Atlanta R1 previews and picks: Fish vs. Russell, Blake vs. Smyczek

A quartet of Americans will take the court for night-session action on Tuesday in Atlanta. Mardy Fish begins his comeback against Michael Russell while James Blake is going up against Tim Smyczek.

(6) Mardy Fish vs. Michael Russell

Fish will make a comeback and play his first match since mid-April on Tuesday night at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The 31-year-old American has been dealing with a mysterious heart problem off and on since last summer. Fish appeared earlier this season in Indian Wells and again at the Savannah Challenger, winning a total of one match in the process. Due to his relative inactivity, he is down at No. 63 in the world rankings. On the bright side, Fish has looked good on the practice courts this week and he dominated a set against Lleyton Hewitt 6-2 on Monday.

This will be the fourth career ATP-level meeting between Fish and Russell. Fish leads the head-to-head series 2-1, but none of those encounters came on a hard court. They last faced each other one season ago on the clay courts of Houston, where Russell cruised 6-3, 6-1. An in-form Russell captured a Challenger title earlier this month in Manta, Ecuador and reached the semifinals in Newport. The 35-year-old is too consistent and his opponent is too rusty for this to be a rout, but Fish should have too much game in the end on a fast hard court.

Pick: Fish in 3

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James Blake vs. (Q) Tim Smyczek

Blake and Smyczek will be squaring off for the first time in their careers on Tuesday. It has already been a successful Atlanta campaign for Smyczek, who booked his spot in the main draw with straight-set scalps of Luke Saville, Mitchell Frank, and Donald Young. The 124th-ranked American owns four of his 11 career ATP-level match wins this season, including one at the Australian Open and another two weeks ago in Newport.

While Smyczek comes in at 4-7 for his 2013 campaign, Blake is a similar 5-9. The 33-year-old American registers at 91st in the world, a far cry from the career-high ranking of No. 4 that he achieved in 2006. Blake is a mere 1-6 in his last seven ATP main-draw matches dating back to the Miami third round, but he is always at his best on U.S. hard courts. This will be a classic back-of-the-court slugfest between two aggressive baseliners. Blake’s forehand is the biggest weapon in this matchup, while Smyczek is more consistent. As long as Blake serves relatively well and can dictate points by taking control early, he should have just enough firepower to get past a confident qualifier.

Pick: Blake in 3

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