Grigor Dimitrov, Frances Tiafoe, and Jack Sock all got knocked out of the BB&T Atlanta Open on Tuesday. Dimitrov and Tiafoe suffered especially unceremonious losses to Kevin King and Bernard Tomic, respectively. Sock, who had not played since the Australian Open due to a thumb injury, was beaten by an in-form Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(9), 7-6(5).
For the 28-year-old King ranked No. 405 in the world, it was his first-ever ATP-level victory. The former Georgia Tech standout was playing on “College Night,” preceded by current Georgia Tech star Cole Gromley. Gromley, playing in his first pro tournament, accounted himself well throughout a competitive 7-6(2), 6-2 loss to a red-hot Ugo Humbert.
Other winners on Tuesday were Radu Albot, Dan Evans, Reilly Opelka, Matthew Ebden, and Soonwoo Kwon. Opelka upended Newport runner-up Alexander Bublik and will now face five-time Atlanta champion John Isner on Wednesday night.
“I thought I played really clean,” Opelka noted following his 6-3, 7-6(1) defeat of Bublik. “I played a really good tiebreak; I made all my first serves.
“This one probably a little more favored for John, just because he’s won (Atlanta) so many times,” Opelka admitted. “Obviously I’m the underdog again playing him, and there’s a good chance there are going to be a lot of tiebreaks.”
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