Nishioka, Lammons/Withrow win final Atlanta Open

Yoshihito Nishioka has become the final Atlanta Open champion after defeating Jordan Thompson 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in a match that started on Sunday and ended early Monday morning.

In the tournament’s final iteration, it also had its first champion not from the U.S. or Australia. Nishioka is the seventh individual winner of the tournament as he earned his third ATP title in three finals appearances.

“This is [an] amazing feeling and amazing whole week,” Nishioka said after the match. “Today was very tough. I think that he is pretty amazing. First set and until second set, I had no chance to break his service game, so it was a very, very tough game for me. I was always under pressure.”

The match was especially unique because it was played over nine hours. It began at 4 p.m. on July 28 and had two small rain delays. In the second set with Nishioka up 5-4 and Thompson serving and leading 30-15, the match was called for another rain delay. Rain poured down for the next five hours until the match finally resumed at 11:30 p.m., ultimately ending around 12:20 a.m. on July 29.

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“After rain and waiting like five hours, I think there’s [a] little bit of changing of the tennis,” Nishioka said. “I keep focusing on the tennis until 1 a.m.”

Nishioka admitted that he may have benefitted slightly from the rain delay. Thompson defeated him soundly in the first set and was on his way to tying up the second when the rain delay was called. After play resumed, Thompson did tie up the second and ultimately the set went to a tiebreak, which Nishioka won handily. The match seemed to turn there as Nishioka immediately broke Thompson’s serve in the second set of the first game.

Thompson seemed to fall apart after that. Nishioka broke his serve again in the fifth game and Thompson grew increasingly frustrated, twice yelling about calls and taking issue with the court’s moisture level.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Nishioka defeated Thompson soundly in the third set, 6-2. Thompson hit it out to hand Nishioka the win. It was the fifth time Nishioka has defeated Thompson in ATP play; Thompson has yet to win a match on the ATP tour against Nishioka.

“Actually today, I think he almost had it,” Nishioka said. “Maybe he had a game if rain [had] not come out, so it’s very sorry for him. In tennis, it’s always like this. It’s different situations and tough conditions but you have to deserve it. … with the conditions changing, he couldn’t fix it, so I find a way.”

The doubles winners certainly found a way. With their match beginning at 1:01 a.m. on July 29, Nate Lammons and Jackson Withrow defeated André Göransson and Sem Verbeek in a ten-point tie break. Göransson and Verbeek won the first set 6-4 and were consistently pressing in the second. But several aces from Withrow kept them in the match and the pair came back from being down 15-40 in the final game of the second set to break Göransson’s serve and force a tie break.

The tie break was incredibly tight. The pairs traded points back and forth going toe-to-toe until Withrow’s serve and Lammons’ excellent kill put them up 11-10. In the final point, with Göransson serving, Göransson ultimately couldn’t return the serve return from the dynamic American duo. Lammons and Withrow won the Atlanta Open two years in a row with a final score of 4-6, 6-4, 12-10.

“[I’m a] mixture of happy and tired. It’s pretty late out here,” Lammons said. “To be honest, I’m a little in shock. I don’t know if I feel like I played my best match there, but we kinda hung in and Jackson came up with the goods on match point there so pretty pumped to get the win and pumped to keep the summer going.”

The final Atlanta Open ultimately concluded around 2:25 a.m on July 29. There were still fans in the stands, kids among them, proving that tennis’ future is still bright in the South.

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