Mardy Fish defends his title at the Atlanta Tennis Championships, the start of the summer hard-court swing.
This event gives the players a taste of the often brutal heat in the States at this time of the year. John Isner had to battle temperatures of over 140 degrees Farenheit during his semi-final win last year and the players who have put the hard yards in over the off season enjoy such an advantage.
Fish is one of those, having re-invented himself over the past two seasons after hiring a new fitness trainer and the American now enjoys a place in the top ten. The revival started this time last year as he powered through a tough field before outlasting Isner in a third set tiebreak in the final.
Fish will face a stern challenge from new hot-shot Milos Raonic. The Canadian was the talk of the tour at the start of the year after his brilliant displays on the hard courts of San Jose and Memphis. However his momentum ground to a halt during the clay-court swing and injury curtailed his much anticipated Wimbledon debut. All in all, Raonic will be delighted to be back in the States.
Lleyton Hewitt continues to ignore the suggestions of retirement and who can blame him after his gutsy display at Wimbledon which saw him come within a whisker of taking out fifth seed Robin Soderling. However Hewitt finds things harder on the slower hard courts which aren't quite so kind on his 30 year old body.
