Atlanta SF previews and predictions: Isner vs. Ebden, Harrison vs. Norrie

John Isner and Ryan Harrison are one round away from a second consecutive Atlanta final head-to-head showdown. They first have to get past Matthew Ebden and Cameron Norrie, respectively, in Saturday’s semifinals.

(1) John Isner vs. (4) Matthew Ebden

Isner and Ebden will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the Atlanta title match on Saturday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in favor of Isner, who prevailed on the hard courts of Indian Wells in 2012 and twice on grass (at Wimbledon three years ago and in last summer’s Newport final). Ebden won their most recent encounter 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round of this season’s Australian Open. Whereas Ebden enjoyed home-court advantage Down Under, it is Isner who has that edge to an even greater extent in this one. The ninth-ranked American is 29-4 lifetime in Atlanta with four titles and three runner-up finishes. Isner has now reached the semis in all nine years of this event’s existence thanks to victories over Alex de Minaur and Mischa Zverev.

Both Isner and Ebden are enjoying the best seasons of their careers, with the latter recently peaking at 43rd in the rankings (currently 55th). The 30-year-old Australian is an even 13-13 at the ATP level and he also captured a hard-court Challenger title a couple of months ago in South Korea. Ebden followed up a first-round by this week by taking care of Donald Young and Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets. Atlanta’s No. 4 seed is tough customer who rarely beats himself, but he is unlikely to have enough to weapons to hang with Isner in these conditions.

Pick: Isner in 2

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(8) Ryan Harrison vs. Cameron Norrie

If Isner and Harrison prevail on Saturday, it will be a rematch of the 2017 Atlanta final on Sunday. Harrison has moved to within one win of a return trip to the title match thanks to victories this week over James Duckworth, Lukas Lacko, and Hyeon Chung. The 53rd-ranked American came back from a set down on each of those occasions, most recently outlasting Chung 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(5) in the quarters. Harrison now owns a winning record this season (17-16) and he has improved to 12-6 lifetime at this tournament with his fourth semifinal appearance.

Up next for the eighth seed is a first-ever showdown against Norrie, who got a second-set retirement from Nick Kyrgios on Friday night. The 22-year-old Brit preceded that result with a straight-set rout of Malek Jaziri and a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Jeremy Chardy. This is the second career ATP semifinal and second of the season for the former TCU standout, who wrapped up his college career last spring. A high-quality contest is likely in the cards, with a slight edge going to Harrison due to his experience and prowess in Atlanta.

Pick: Harrison in 3

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