The Truist Atlanta Open, which made its ATP Tour debut in 2010, is the first American stop in the North American hard-court season.

The ATP 250 would have been held this week if not for the Tour suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the event.

A Handful Of Titles
Since the tournament made its debut in 2010, eight editions of the singles event have been won by Americans. Mardy Fish (2010-’11) and Andy Roddick (2012) claimed the opening three titles in Atlanta, before John Isner made his mark.

Following wins against Christian Harrison, James Blake and Lleyton Hewitt, Isner claimed his maiden Atlanta trophy in a dramatic 2013 final. The 6’10” home favourite contested three tie-breaks against Kevin Anderson and saved each of the 11 break points he faced to take the title after two hours and 54 minutes.

Isner dropped just two sets across his next two visits to Georgia, where he attended university between 2003 and 2007, to complete a memorable tournament hattrick. After a straight-sets loss to Nick Kyrgios in the 2016 championship match, Isner claimed back-to-back final victories against Ryan Harrison in 2017 and 2018 to boost his Atlanta trophy count to five.

Three Visits, Three Finals
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have made three appearances in Atlanta, winning two titles from three championship matches. The Americans claimed wins in their opening 11 matches at the event, lifting the trophy in 2015 and 2017 before a run to last year’s final.

The Bryans twice came within a point of a third Atlanta trophy against Dominic Inglot and Austin Krajicek, but the British-American pairing held its nerve to secure a 6-4, 6-7(5), 11-9 victory. The brothers share the tournament record for doubles titles with fellow two-time titlist Matthew Ebden (2011-’12).

Small Move, Big Difference
The ATP 250 may have only moved across the street to a different plot of land at Atlanta Station, but last year’s minor relocation has already made a major positive impact on the tournament.

“We’ve gone from two acres to five, we have more shade, more air conditioning and more fan activation areas,” said Tournament Director Eddie Gonzalez. “We want to be known as being player friendly, fan friendly and sponsor friendly, and we feel like we’ve accomplished this in year one.”

One of the many beneficiaries of the move has been the tournament’s fanbase. Reilly Opelka, a two-time semi-finalist in Atlanta, noticed the improved facilities for supporters during his fourth visit to the event in five years.

“The indoor seating, the covered shaded area I think is a lot better for the fans,” said Opelka last year. “We had a pretty good crowd out there today and I think the stadium has a lot to do with that.”

Kyrgios Ends Isner’s Streak
Kyrgios enjoyed a dream debut in Atlanta in 2016, when he claimed four wins to pick up his second ATP Tour title. The Australian beat Jared Donaldson in straight sets, before successfully navigating three-set battles against Fernando Verdasco and Yoshihito Nishioka to reach the championship match.

Kyrgios faced three-time defending champion John Isner for the trophy. The Canberra native entered the final with an 0-2 ATP Head2Head record against Isner, but claimed the win in two tie-break sets to take the crown and break Isner’s 15-match winning streak in Atlanta.

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Dominant Demon
Until last year, Kyrgios was the youngest champion in the tournament’s history. But countryman Alex de Minaur broke that record in emphatic fashion in 2019, dropping just seven first-serve points across four matches to claim the crown.

The #NextGenATP Aussie earned wins against Bradley Klahn, Bernard Tomic, Opelka and Taylor Fritz to earn his second ATP Tour title. De Minaur did not face a break point en route to the trophy, becoming only the third player to do so since stats began being kept in 1991. Tommy Haas (2007 Memphis) and Isner (2017 Newport) are the only other players to achieve the feat.

No player goes to a tournament expecting to leave with a cow. Roger Federer has done so at the Swiss Open Gstaad… twice.

“It was a total surprise,” Federer told SwissInfo in 2003, when he received his first cow from one of his home ATP Tour events. “Now I need to find a garage for a cow, although I have no idea what a cow garage looks like.”

The tournament gifted Federer the cow after the Swiss won his maiden Grand Slam championship at 2003 Wimbledon. He also received a cow in Gstaad in 2013 following a nine-year absence from the tournament, where he made his ATP Tour debut in 1998.

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Novak Djokovic won his first ATP Tour title at Amersfoort in 2006. The Serbian is now a 79-time tour-level champion, but the prize he received for that victory was unique. In addition to the winner’s prize money, he got an iPod and a flower bouquet.

“I will always remember this tournament in Amersfoort,” Djokovic said after accepting the gifts.

Those aren’t the only memorable trophies or gifts players have been given by tournaments. Rafael Nadal won his third Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC title this year and he bit into the silver pear trophy to celebrate.

From 2009 through 2018, the Hamburg European Open champions received a propeller trophy. Gilles Simon beat Nicolas Almagro in a three-set 2011 final to lift the special prize.

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One of the most unique championship match experiences on the ATP Tour comes at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Before the match, the haka, a ceremonial challenge dance, is performed in front of both finalists. A Maori warrior later presents the champion with a traditional spear to recognise his accomplishment.

Are you a fan of art? The New York Open gives its champions and finalists a large painting to take home, created by artist Ted Dimond.

The New York Open was previously held in Memphis, which is well-known for its music. The city houses multiple music museums.

The ATP 250 presented its champion with a guitar trophy. Kei Nishikori won four consecutive editions of the tournament from 2013-2016.

Andrey Rublev’s ATP Tour breakthrough almost ended before the main draw of the 2017 Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag began. Hungarian Attila Balazs beat the 19-year-old in straight sets in the final round of qualifying.

But Borna Coric withdrew, Rublev entered the main draw as a lucky loser and he never looked back. The Russian beat fourth seed Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-2 in the final for his first tour-level title.

“I have no words to explain it, especially after this tough week,” said Rublev. “Now I’m here and it’s amazing.”

It capped a dream week for the teen, who had defeated third seed and defending champion Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals and home hope Ivan Dodig in the last four to reach his first ATP Tour final. Rublev was the seventh lucky loser to win a tour-level title and the first to do so since Rajeev Ram triumphed at 2009 Newport.

“I lost in the qualies, which should have been bad for me. Now I’ve won this tournament and everything is perfect,” Rublev said. “You can win one day and lose the next day. You can lose and you can win. The main thing for me is to do my best every day.”

Rublev tried to maintain the same routine throughout the week. He always sat in the front seat of the tournament transportation, for example.

“My coach was wearing the same t-shirt, my t-shirt, for the past three days. During the day, I would always go back to my hotel room. All these little things I was trying to do the same,” Rublev said. “The past three days were really tough mentally. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t talk normally. There was so much stress, it was really tough. I’m really happy that it’s over and I won the tournament.”

When Rublev was a kid, he watched the world’s best tennis players compete on television, battling for trophies. He wanted to be in that position.

“I’ve won my first ATP title and it’s amazing,” Rublev said. “Now it’s time to work and to try to do it again.”

The Russian didn’t let the big win change his mentality. He was excited to lift the trophy, but aware that there was plenty of work to do.

“I have no goals,” Rublev said. “I just want to do my best, to improve on the things I need to improve on and that’s it.”

Rublev was the No. 74 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings that week. Three years later, the Russian is World No. 14 and he owns four ATP Tour titles.

There’s no greater pressure in tennis than facing match point. If you lose the point, you lose the match. There have been memorable moments over the years when players saved match point and eventually triumphed.

Alexander Zverev did this in an extreme way at the 2017 Coupe Rogers. In his opening match, the German saved three match points before defeating Richard Gasquet in a third-set tie-break. One of those match points, at 5-6, 30/40 in the decider, featured a 49-shot rally, which Zverev finished off with a forehand winner.

“It definitely helped that I won the point against Gasquet, otherwise I would be in Cincinnati right now,” Zverev said after his next match against Nick Kyrgios.

Zverev took full advantage of that save, going on to lift the trophy in Montreal with wins over Kyrgios, Kevin Anderson, Denis Shapovalov and Roger Federer.

At the same tournament, Gael Monfils saved four match points before defeating Kei Nishikori in a final-set tie-break to reach the Round of 16.

“I’m more than happy because I fought through the toughness, because it was tough for me,” Monfils said. “It was a bit like a rollercoaster.”

Other memorable match point saves include when Rafael Nadal battled from the brink against Novak Djokovic at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open and Andy Murray saved seven match points against Philipp Kohlschreiber at the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have won 119 tour-level titles together, setting countless doubles records. What has it taken to enjoy so much success?

“You’ve got to be crazy to be around someone like this for this long,” Mike said on this week’s episode of Tennis United.

“This doesn’t last unless we have the same DNA, the same blood. Our teeth are the same, we’ve got our braces on and off the same day. His retainer fit my mouth, it was just weird,” Bob said. “We’ve been connected at the hip since birth. I think twins are weird. It’s not normal to be this close to someone that’s not your spouse. It’s an unbreakable bond. It had to be a twin relationship for this to last this many years.”

Winning on the court is one thing, but maintaining your relationship with a partner is another. It’s unheard of for partners to stay together throughout their careers like the Bryan Brothers have.

“You have to be able to be around them all day with the practice, eating lunch. You’re a package deal. It is like a marriage and then you’re going through ups and downs weekly,” Mike said. “When stress gets involved, things could be said and if you lose matches you never want to look in the mirror and say, ‘I could have done this.’ We never had that vibe.”

“You play doubles with a guy for a couple years and he starts to get on your nerves and you’re looking for someone new,” Bob added.

It was doubles week on Tennis United. Co-hosts Vasek Pospisil and Bethanie Mattek-Sands are both Grand Slam doubles champions. They spoke to several doubles stars, including Rajeev Ram, Jack Sock, Jean-Julien Rojer, Kevin Krawietz, Andreas Mies and Marcelo Melo.

“My favourite thing about doubles is [it happens] so quickly,” Melo said. “We can have fun sharing the court with someone. You always have to be ready to make some reflex volleys. You have such entertaining points, so that’s why I love to play doubles and for sure many people do as well.”

Lucas Arnold Ker calls himself a tennis lover and does not hesitate to acknowledge that racquets and tennis balls were “everything” for a large part of his life. The 45-year-old Argentine, for whom tennis runs in the family with his father and brother both playing professionally, reached the doubles final at Roland Garros in 1997 and climbed as high as No. 77 in FedEx ATP Rankings.

One thing he’ll never forget is facing Roger Federer at the 1998 Swiss Open Gstaad, Federer’s ATP Tour debut. Arnold Ker defeated the 16-year-old home favourite 6-4, 6-4 in 80 minutes. 

“I’m often reminded that I beat him… but not many know that it was his first match on the ATP Tour,” Arnold Ker told ATPTour.com. “I never thought or imagined that Federer was going to be one of the best in the world and in history, I really didn’t.”

At that tournament Arnold Ker, then No. 88 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, fell in the final round of qualifying. He competed in the main draw as a lucky loser thanks to Tommy Haas’ withdrawal due to food poisoning. Arnold Ker had never set eyes on Federer, who had just been crowned the Wimbledon boys’ singles champion. 

“I had to play a Swiss junior and at the time Switzerland didn’t have much of a [tennis] history,” Arnold Ker said. “They weren’t very good players.”

That match, on 7 July 1998, was the first of over 1,500 tour-level matches for Federer. Arnold Ker broke the Swiss four times in his triumph.

“Roger had a good serve, a good forehand… but his backhand was stunted, not good at all,” Arnold Ker said. “I remember moving him over there all the time and that allowed me to beat him solidly in two sets.”

Did Arnold Ker imagine at the time that he had just faced a future World No. 1 and the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles?

“It’s incredible that he progressed as a player to be one of the best in history,” Arnold Ker said.

Federer also recalled the match a few months back in an interview with Argentine newspaper La Nación.

“I was disappointed because I was supposed to play Tommy Haas, but he had a stomach bug and, instead of playing on Centre Court, they put me on Court 1,” Federer said. “But it was still full of fans and it was really crazy, because I had won [the] Wimbledon juniors.

“I remember Lucas, who was from the generation of players who played serve and volley. He served to my backhand with spin and I had come from Wimbledon, where the ball bounces at a different height and I struggled. He was more experienced. I played well from what I remember. I lost 6-4, 6-4, but it was a great experience to have the media spotlight on me playing in front of a lot of people, getting used to that kind of pressure.”

For his part, Arnold only crossed paths on court with Federer one more time, in doubles. When he talks about tennis with his students today and remembers old times, the Argentine normally tells them to keep an eye on the Swiss legend. Federer still surprises him by continuing to improve despite his greatness.

Arnold Ker teaches tennis “more socially than competitively” because he prioritises his family, even moreso since battling testicular cancer in 2007, which he beat after countless chemotherapy sessions.

“Until I was probably 30, I spent 24 hours a day thinking about tennis,” Arnold Ker said. “Since I was little I knew I wanted to be a professional and I can say that I gave it everything.”