betprepare.com

Venus has been lucky in this tournament

After sneaking into the tournament through qualification, Venus was lucky enough to be given the first round bye as Gasquet pulled out of the tournament. This will be his first ever second ATP round. But, judging by his performances, he doesn't not belong here

Getty Images

Isner is always there, and despite the fact he's been the best American player for years, Sock is the one who's been drawing most attention to himself this year. The 21-year-old did something uncharacteristic of his compatriots, proving he can adjust to any of the four surfaces.

Sock is, regardless of that, still a typical example of the American tennis school. He has a good forehand, and an even better service. That service definitely helped him win Wimbledon this year, which is his biggest accomplishment so far. Popisil and him surprised everyone, and that title certainly boosted his confidence, which helped him reach the Newport semi final recently. That was his last tournament ahead of this one in Atlanta.

This tournament will be the start to the hard court season, and judging by his first match, he adjusted very well to it. He had no problems eliminating Gonzales in under one hour. Gonzales was in the Bogota quarter final last week. Tough service game, and the fact he allowed the opponent only one break point decided the match. The 89% of first service and 9 aces helped as well. He won twice as many points against the opponent's service and easily won for the next round.

He was lucky with the draw and is now meeting an opponent who definitely doesn't belong to this level. It's another American Venus, who barely managed to beat Tiefoe in the second qualifying round, and then, in the final one, managed to beat Ram, who was already sure he's in the tournament. Since Gasquet pulled out, one of the qualifiers was to be given a first round bye, and it turned out to be him. That means he will play his first second round ATP match. He was defeated badly in his first two matches at this level.

He is 26 years old, and managed to finish only the season 2010 with a positive challenger record. Interestingly, he managed to beat Sock two times already. But, it happened in 2011, when Sock was just turning pro.