Atlanta Day 6 recap: Isner, Harrison Brothers lead American charge

The Harrison Brothers experienced mixed results on Thursday at the BB&T Atlanta Open, but they had one thing in common: stealing the show. Ryan, 21, opened the Stadium Court action against No. 4 seed Igor Sijsling. Harrison lost the first four games of the match but stormed back to win 12 of the last 15 for a 6-4, 6-3 upset win. Christian, 19, almost made a comeback of his own in what was a far more dramatic showdown. Playing his first ATP tournament and second ATP-level match (he upset Alejandro Falla on Wednesday), Harrison fell to No. 1 seed John Isner 7-6(9), 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 24 minutes. Despite missing three set points in the opener, the underdog battled back to take the second and did not drop serve a single time until 5-5 in the third. Harrison even fought off three match points on his opponent’s serve at 6-5 before Isner finally clinched victory with a huge service winner.

Another American, James Blake, also treated the crowd to an entertaining performance. The 33-year-old blasted eighth-seeded Evgeny Donskoy right off the court in straight sets. Blake and Isner will square off in a marquee quarterfinal clash on Friday, while Ryan Harrison will try to capitalize on a wide-open draw when he goes up against Santiago Giraldo.

Other quarterfinal matchups are Lleyton Hewitt vs. Ivan Dodig (both players advanced on Wednesday) and Kevin Anderson vs. Denis Istomin. An in-form Istomin has not dropped a set in two contests this week, while Anderson got off to a slow start in his tournament opener on Thursday night before sprinting past qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2.

Ryan Harrison