Shelton, Tiafoe to headline hard court tour opener in Atlanta

The Atlanta Open, which has been running for 14 years, will mark the end of the latest edition of the ATP 250. Next week, the tournament will once again open the American summer hard-court season.

Although the event will be held back-to-back with the Paris Olympics (tennis starts next weekend), it is expected to be a grand finale in Atlanta with a 28-player field. The draw includes Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Denis Shapovalov. No. 2 seed Adrian Mannarino, No. 4 seed Jordan Thompson and No. 5 seed Miomir Kecmanovic will also be heading to Atlanta.

The top half of the draw is particularly strong, with Shelton, Davidovich Fokina, Shapovalov, Thompson and Borna Coric. The most interesting first-round matchups include Davidovich Fokina vs. Arthur Cazaux, Shapovalov vs. David Goffin and Coric vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis. Shelton vs. Shapovalov is a potential quarterfinal pairing and would be a rematch of the American’s recent Wimbledon third-round victory in five sets.

On the other side of the bracket is Tiafoe, who regained some much-needed momentum by pushing eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz to five sets at the All-England Club. Tiafoe could open with Aslan Karatsev in the second round before facing Brandon Nakashima in the quarterfinals. As for Mannarino, he will likely open his week against Atlanta 2023 finalist Aleksandar Vukic.

Full draw in PDF on the ATP website