US Open Series: Isner wins sixth Atlanta title

For the first time in two years, John Isner was crowned an ATP singles champion over the weekend at the Truist Atlanta Open, besting Brandon Nakashima in Sunday's all-American final, 7-6(8), 7-5. 

It was a measure of revenge for Isner, who'd lost to his teenaged comaptriot the week prior in the semifinals of the ATP 250 event in Los Cabos, Mexico. To win his 16th career title, and sixth in Atlanta overall, the 36-year-old American saved two set points in the opener, and later, two crucial break points at 5-5 in the second set after failing to convert on any of four match points presented in the previous game. 

"I think today I was just a little bit luckier and that's really what it came down to," Isner said on-court after the match. "It was absolutely amazing to be out here and playing on a Sunday again... I think it'll give me a lot of confidence, for sure.

"Over the last two weeks, if you count singles and doubles, I've played 12 matches in about 10 or 11 days. I've played a lot, which is exactly what I need, and hopefully I can take this, go forward and build some momenum for the tournaments ahead." 

Already holding the tournament records for most titles and final appearances in Atlanta, Isner extended his hold on both of those all-time marks at the US Open Series event to six and nine, respectively. Seeded No. 6, Isner needed three sets to take three of his five victories on the week, including a semifinal win over No. 5 seed Taylor Fritz. 

Despite tasting two defeats in his first two ATP finals over the last fortnight, Nakashima has nonetheless had a surging start to the summer and counted top seed Milos Raonic among his victories in Atlanta. As a result of the run, the 19-year-old cracks the ATP's Top 100 for the first time in this week's rankings, checking in at No. 89. 

"It was two great weeks for me for sure. It definitely gives me a lot of confidence in my game knowing that I could hang with these top guys and produce good tennis in back-to-back weeks," Nakashima said, as reported by the ATP. "Leading into the next few tournaments and the US Open I know that I'm playing well and I know I could make deep runs there."

In doubles, Reilly Opelka partnered Italy's Jannik Sinner to win his first career ATP doubles title after three previous runner-up showings. Unseeded, the pair knocked off No. 2 seeds Jonathan Erlich and Santiago Gonzalez in the first round, and beat Steve Johnson and Jordan Thompson in a 10-point match tiebreak in the final. 

Other American title-winners last week included:

- Varvara Lepchenko - singles champion at the LTP Women’s Open - WTA 125 Series in Charleston, S.C.

- Rob Galloway and Alex Lawson – doubles champions at the ATP Challenger 90 event in Segovia, Spain

- Stefan Kozlov – doubles champion at the ATP Challenger 80 event in Lexington, Ky.

- Ben Shelton – singles and doubles champion at the USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour M25 in Champaign, Ill.

- Eliot Spizzirri - doubles champion at the USTA Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour M25 in Champaign, Ill.

- Lauren Proctor - doubles champion at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 in Monastir, Tunisia

- Amy Zhu - doubles champion at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 in Cordenons, Italy