The Atlanta Tennis Championships Honors the Old and Brings Out the New

NORCROSS, GA - Even though this is the second year of the Atlanta Tennis Championships there is a lot of "new" to talk about in 2011.

A new venue, a new tournament director, and a generation of new players that will kick off the 2011 Olympus U.S. Open Series this weekend in Atlanta.

Starting with the venue, the tournament this year comes to the Racquet Club of the South in Norcross, GA. The previous site, the Atlanta Athletic Club is hosting the PGA Championship this August so it wasn't possible to play there again. The Racquet Club of the South offers more space, more shade, and a true stadium court for the feature matches.

The new tournament director is Bob Bryant. Bryant replaces Bill Oakes who moved to the new Winston-Salem Open ATP event. Bryant is excited about this year's new venue, especially the already in place stadium court. "Beacuse of that sunken court and (the fact) the existing seats that were there are so steep, you’re really surrounding the court. And one of the things we’re changing this year is, instead of the champagne tables on one end, we’re really surrounding it with seats. So, ... with the court six feet down and the seats coming right up to it, it really creates this bowl," explained Bryant.

If you like watching players moving up the rankings that might be Grand Slam champs a year or so down the road, this is the tournament for you. The likes of Ryan Harrison and Grigor Dimitrov should be in the main draw come Monday, along with other familiar names like Ryan Sweeting and Donald Young. Denis Kudla is in the qualifying and he's coming off a good showing at Newport.

It's always good balance out all the "newness" with some familiarity, and this year's Atlanta Tennis Championships does just that.

Let's start with the fans and volunteers. Atlanta is tennis crazy and when men's professional tennis went away in the 2000's there was a void that needed to be filled. Many of the fans attending and the volunteers working this year have been with the tournament since is was played at the Omni back in 1986. Ask any ATP tournament director and he will say that volunteers are the lifeblood of the event, and it wouldn't be possible without them. Atlanta's vounteers work harder than anyone in extremely hot conditions, they are troopers.

Looking at the players, a bunch of grizzled veterans (I won't call them old) are looking to stave off the youth movement and claim another title for the old guard. Included in this group are defending champ Mardy Fish and three former top five players in Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Haas and James Blake. Hewitt is a former Wimbledon champ and #1 player in the world.

While not top heavy, the draw is deep. The contrast of new stars vs. former top 5 players makes this a very interesting event. ESPN2 and Tennis Channel will be on hand starting Friday to cover the action.