Andy Roddick and John Isner to play at this year’s Winston-Salem Open – Tennis News
Former world number one, Andy Roddick, and last season’s champion, John Isner, have committed to make a return at the Winston-Salem Open this year.
This will be the second edition of this event, which will be held from 18th to 25th August at the Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Isner grabbed the title at the inaugural edition of the Winston-Salem Open last year, beating Julien Benneteau of France in the final. On the other hand, Roddick was beaten by Isner in the semi-final.
Tournament Director, Bill Oakes, stated that his team is quite happy that Isner and Roddick will be coming back to the event this year.
Oakes said, “We are extremely pleased that John and Andy have decided to come back to Winston-Salem this year. Both of them loved competing in the Winston-Salem Open last year and expressed a desire to return at the conclusion
of the tournament.”
Winston-Salem Open provided a good preparation to the players for the US Open last year, as the hard court surface here is quite similar to that at the US Open.
Isner made it to the quarter-finals at the Flushing Meadows, losing to the world number four, Andy Murray. That was the American’s career best performance at a Grand Slam. Roddick also reached the last eight at the US Open.
Julien Benneteau, who was last year’s runner-up here, went on to upset the 10th seed, Nicolas Almagro, in the opening round at the Flushing Meadows.
Oakes added, “We believe our field of players will be very strong this year because many of them will want playing time on a surface like ours between competing on Wimbledon’s grass courts at the Olympics and the U.S. Open, which
has a surface like ours.”
Isner has now become the American number two and carries a supreme form in this season. He stunned 16-time Grand Slam winner, Roger Federer, in four sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 during USA’s 5-0 whitewash over Switzerland at the
Davis Cup. The American also upset the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, in three thrilling sets 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(5) in the BNP Paribas Open final in Indian Wells.
While, Roddick regained his form recently, as he toppled Federer in three sets 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 in the third round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Winston-Salem Open is an ATP World Tour 250 event and will offer total prize money of $625,000 this year.
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