NORCROSS, Georgia - It was an All-American final today in Atlanta, and for the second consecutive year, Mardy Fish had too much in the third set for 6'9" John Isner to handle.

Fish scored an impressive 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2 comeback win over Isner, but only after he faced two match points in the second set tiebreak. Fish fell behind 5-1 in the tiebreak before evening it at 5-5.

"I was lucky to come back in the tiebreaker," said the No. 9 ranked Fish after grabbing his first title of 2011. "When John is in that position he'll close out the match nine out of ten times."

Isner seemed in disbelief that he let this match get away from him. "I was up a set and a break. I had a match point on my own serve. You can't ask for much more than that."

Fish will now head to Los Angeles where he is the #1 seed in the Farmers Classic. Isner will take next week off before playing in Washington D.C.

In Sunday's earlier match, Matthew Ebden of Australia won his second consecutive doubles title, teaming this week with American, Alex Bogomolov Jr., in a 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 match-tiebreaker victory over Matthias Bachinger and Frank Moser of Germany.

Seen around the grounds on Sunday: Chair Umpire Steve Ulrich threatening to throw a fan out of the stadium in the doubles final after the fan was cheering misses from Bogomolov Jr. and Ebden...90-year old former University of Georgia tennis coach, Dan Magill cheering on former Bulldog, Isner...Former Atlanta Tennis Championships tournament director Bill Oakes, who now is TD at the Winston-Salem Open this August. He says he'll have a strong field and has received some inquiries from some top-30 players possibly looking to take a wild card.

JOHN'S CREEK, GA - #1 seed Lauren Davis of Ohio took on #2 seed Alexis King of Florida on a picture perfect Sunday morning in John's Creek, GA to crown the champion of the 2011 Norman Wilkerson Memorial Tournament. This is a USTA 10K Women's Pro Circuit event where mainly young players are trying to win rounds in order to improve their WTA ranking.

According to USTA tournament official Missy Malool, having a #1 and #2 seed meet in the finals of an event like this, "doesn't happen very often."

18-year old Davis withstood a first set barrage of power by King to win the title 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, giving her a second circuit title in three weeks.

A great crowd turned out at The Falls at Autrey Mill Tennis Center to see Davis find the range on her groundstrokes and take down a talented King.

With this victory, Davis should see her ranking climb about 25 spots to around #360 in the world.

The player who has won the most singles titles on the WTA Tour in 2011 thus far is No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, with five.  She's the No. 1 player, so her place atop this category makes sense.

In second place is recent Wimbledon champion and current WTA No. 7 Petra Kvitova, who has four singles titles this year. Given her enormous successes and rise to prominence recently, this hardly can be seen as shocking either.

But third place on this list belongs to a player considerably further down on the rankings, and considerably further from the spotlight.  Roberta Vinci, the third-highest ranked Italian in the WTA, claimed her third singles title of the year Sunday in Budapest, beating Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the final.  The win puts Vinci at a career high ranking of No. 22, still well behind most every other titlist this year.

Counting both singles and doubles titles, Vinci is tied with Wozniacki for first in WTA titles this year, with two doubles titles thus far in 2011 (Hobart and Pattaya City).  Since those two doubles titles came on hard courts, Vinci can claim titles on all three outdoor surfaces this year.

Though Vinci was the top seed in Budapest, her road to the title was far from straightforward.  She was two points from losing to Hungarian wild card Timea Babos in the second round, saved two match points against Zuzana Kucova in the quarterfinal, and trailed Begu 4-2 in the third set of the final before reeling off the last four games.

Though she came up short in the final, Irina-Camelia Begu has also quietly put together an extremely impressive 2011 campaign as well. Ranked No. 198 at the beginning of the year, Begu has risen all the way to a career high of No. 60 in just six months.  She first broke through with a run to the final of Marbella in April, with wins over  and Budapest in July.  With so few points to defend in the left of the year, Begu seems more likely than not to break into the top 50 by year end.

For a record-tying sixth time (and a record-breaking sixth time in seven years), Rafael Nadal held the Coupe de Mousquetaires aloft on a Sunday in Paris, a right he earned by beating Roger Federer 7–5, 7–6(3), 5–7, 6–1 in the Men's Singles final.  This was the first singles final in men's tennis history between two players who had both already achieved a career slam.

As close as the scoreline of this match looks (by far their closest French Open final ever), it had every right to be much closer.  Federer was thoroughly in control of the first set, leading it 5-2 before losing seven consecutive games.  He also had several chances to claim the second set, ultimately done in by a very poor start to the tiebreak.  Ironically enough, the one set Federer did win (the third) was likely his worst up to that point.  The only set that Federer didn't seem to control at any point was the fourth, though even in that breadsticking he did have 0-40 on Nadal's serve in the first game.

With its wild, violent momentum swings, this match had the potential to come close to the Wimbledon 2008 epic.  If Federer had won the first, or the second, or made more of a contest out of the fourth, this could easily be talked about as an all-time classic.  But like he had done so many time before, Nadal swatted away every "what if?" to which Federer and his fans clung.

With this title, Nadal increases his total slam count to ten, the majority of which (six) have come on Parisian dirt.

Once the outcome of this match became clear, discussion shifted (as it most always does in a grand slam final) to where this win puts Nadal in the all-time pantheon of tennis greats, and arguments he may have for surpassing Federer as the greatest of all time.

Personally, I don't think another French Open title for Nadal changes much.  He increased his all-time advantage over Federer to 17-8, sure, but Federer remains 6-5 against him on surfaces other than clay.  The main reason the head to head is so lopsided is that Nadal was not good enough on hard courts during the first several years of his career to make it deep enough in the draws of hard court tournaments to face Federer outside the European swing on any sort of regular basis. Nadal has only made the final of the Australian and US Opens once each, whereas Federer has made the finals of every grand slam at least five times over.  Nadal is at least four more years from matching that mark, a mark which I think is crucial when evaluating the sort of well-rounded player a "GOAT" should be.

All that being said, Nadal has to be considered the indisputable best clay courter of all time right now.  Bjorn Borg had six French Open crowns to his name as well, but the litany of other clay accolades Nadal has amassed (Monte Carlo Masters, anyone?) puts him completely over the top. 

The gleeful photos of Nadal holding the trophy year after year often spark comments that he looks like a "happy little kid" out there.  And like any good kid, Nadal clearly is at his best playing in the mud.

Li Na made sports history Saturday in Paris, beating Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6(0) in the French Open final to become the first Asian player, male or female, to win a grand slam singles title.

Though the stakes were high and the play generally sharp, the first two thirds of this final were actually fairly dull.  Li's consistent power and depth didn't allow for Schiavone to pass and charge with her normal flair, and with Li up a set and 4-2, it looked like this one could be over before it started.

But, thankfully for those of us who had woken up at ungodly hours to watch this match, something changed.  It wasn't clear if it was nerves from Li or Schiavone suddenly remembering that she hadn't lost at this tournament in thirteen matches, but late in the second set things got good.  Schiavone got the bounce in her step and the grunt in her throat that had been missing, and Li seemed to have misplaced her previous swagger.  Schiavone broke back, and seemed well on her way to forcing a third set.

But with Li serving at 5-6, 40-40, two points from dropping the second set, a crucial (and incorrect) overrule and mark check by chair umpire Louise Engvall, umpiring her first grand slam final, sent Schiavone into a tailspin.  Instead of it being a set point for Schiavone, it was a game point for Li, and one which Li won.  Then, for good measure, Li won the next seven points and the title as well.

Though women's tennis does seem to be in something of an interregnum right now, talk of the field being "wide open" at this year's French Open should not diminish what Li accomplished whatsoever. 

After Clijsters (and Wozniacki, to a lesser extent) crashed out in the first week, Petra Kvitova, who had won a huge title in Madrid a few weeks before was considered by many to be the favorite. 

But Li dispatched Kvitova in three sets in the fourth round. 

With Kvitova out, Victoria Azarenka, the fourth seed who had only been beaten in a complete match once in 2011, was considered the favorite. 

But Li dispatched Azarenka in straight sets in the quarterfinal. 

With Azarenka out, Maria Sharapova, a three-time slam champion on the verge of completing a career slam, became the player to beat. 

But Li dispatched Sharapova in straight sets in the semifinals. 

With Sharapova out, only defending champion Francesca Schiavone stood between Li and the title. 

You know what happened next.

So what does it all mean? It's safe to say that Li's win and growing  will brighten the future of Asian (specifically Chinese) tennis significantly, as has been said many times today.  But with no real strong presence in the junior ranks right now, the evidence could arrive as slowly as a decade from now.  Just because the aftershocks of this monumental event aren't readily apparent, however, doesn't mean that they won't be seismic.

RESULTS - APRIL 7, 2011:
Women's Singles - Third Round
[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) d [15] B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 76(6) 76(9) -- There's always drama whenever BZS steps on the court, but this was a treat even by her standards. Wozniacki had to save set points in both frames, with BZS doing a tremendous job of making Wozniacki work for every point with sharp angles and depth variety. It was a tremendous example of how Wozniacki is beaten with assertiveness, not power--points can be dictated without power. In the end, though, Wozniacki plays on in South Carolina, and another BZS racquet winds up in pieces.
E Vesnina (RUS) d [2] S Stosur (AUS) 64 61-- I said yesterday that this tournament was a great chance for Stosur to reboot her disappointing 2011, but winning only five games against Elena Vesnina to end her title defence in Charleston falls into the "not helping" category. Stosur very ably defended her 2010 semifinalist points at Roland Garros last year, but otherwise she does not seem to fare well under a spotlight at all. The biggest difference I've noticed in her game in 2011 is her lack of free points off her serve, which at points last year was being declared "better than Serena's." When you have that kind of weapon, only winning one game in a set should never happen.
[3] J Jankovic (SRB) d C Scheepers (RSA) 62 62
[12] J Goerges (GER) d [5] S Peer (ISR) 62 63 -- I expected this match to be a blowout in the other direction, which it clearly was not in the slightest. Goerges has impressed all year, and gets a very winnable quarterfinal against Vesnina today. With Petkovic's recent success as well, Germany hasn't been doing big things in women's tennis like this since the days of Steffi Graf and Anke Huber.
[6] Y Wickmayer (BEL) d [Q] A Tatishvili (GEO) 64 75
[11] S Peng (CHN) d [7] N Petrova (RUS) 63 57 62 -- Peng leads the WTA in wins in 2011 (26), and is poised to make huge improvements to her already career-high ranking. She has to be considered the favorite to make it out of the decimated bottom half at this point.
C McHale (USA) d [10] D Hantuchova (SVK) 76(3) 61 -- I saw Christina McHale play a few times during her run to the round of sixteen in Cincinnati last year, and I was never all that impressed with her game. She struck me as largely weaponless, but, given this run, I clearly missed something. McHale has now beaten two seeds (Kleybanova and Hantuchova) in straight sets, dropping more than one game only once in four sets. She gets Jankovic next, a match that I expect to be long but not particularly close).
[Q] S Mirza (IND) d [WC] S Lisicki (GER) 64 64 -- A very surprising result, especially given the surface. The only time I've seen Sania Mirza play this year was during her scare of Justine Henin in the first round of the Australian Open, in which she looked incredibly powerful but also incredibly streaky. I have to think, especially after her upset of fourth-seeded Marion Bartoli in the previous round, Lisicki underestimated just how dangerous an opponent Mirza can be.

Women's Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] K Peschke (CZE) / K Srebotnik (SLO) d J Goerges (GER) / N Petrova (RUS) 63 75
[4] B Mattek-Sands (USA) / M Shaughnessy (USA) d D Hantuchova (SVK) / M Kirilenko (RUS) 75 76(2)

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2011
STADIUM - Not Before 1:00 PM

[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) vs [6] Y Wickmayer (BEL) -- All-out aggression vs the opposite of that. I have to think Wozniacki's patience will win out here.
[11] S Peng (CHN) vs [Q] S Mirza (IND)
[3] J Jankovic (SRB) vs C McHale (USA)

Not Before 7:00 PM
[12] J Goerges (GER) vs E Vesnina (RUS)
A Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A Rodionova (AUS) vs S Mirza (IND) / E Vesnina (RUS) -- Not a bad week for the latter pair, eh?

ALTHEA GIBSON
Not Before 5:00 PM
R Kops-Jones (USA) / A Spears (USA) vs S Peng (CHN) / J Zheng (CHN)

Women's Singles - Second Round

[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) d [Q] I Falconi (USA) 61 61 -- I don't know the numbers to back the following statement up, but I'm guessing that no WTA #1 has dispatched significantly lower ranked players with as much consistent ease as Caroline Wozniacki does since the days of Steffi Graf.  Her utter refusal to let matches get interesting probably has not helped her  just refuses to let things get interesting.  Wozniacki seems to have something of a propensity for drawing up-and-coming Americans in early rounds of tournaments (Chelsey Gullickson at US Open, Vania King at Australian Open, Sloane Stephens at Indian Wells), and never once has she been significantly tested. 

[2] S Stosur (AUS) d P Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) 61 62 -- Hurricane Patricia was blown out of the Carolinas with relative ease by defending champ Sam Stosur, a very solid start to what is only her second attempt at defending a singles title.  Stosur needs a good tournament here in a bad way, and has to be hoping that the slippery clay will stop her 2011 slide.  Stosur has only made the quarterfinals at one of her six tournaments so far this year, and has yet to live up to her seeding at any.  But a big start to the clay season could reset things very, very nicely.

[3] J Jankovic (SRB) d T Paszek (AUT) 62 63 -- None of the dramatics of their 2008 Australian Open R1 epic, apparently.  Which is a shame, because that match was one of the most nuts things I've ever seen on a tennis court.

[WC] S Lisicki (GER) d [4] M Bartoli (FRA) 62 63 -- Sabine Lisicki earned the biggest title of her career in Charleston back in 2009, beating Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki on her way to her first and (to this point) only WTA title.  Lisicki relative comfort level on the dusty green stuff is clearly much greater than Bartoli's (who doesn't like clay of any sort despite her nationality), but all the same I'm surprised this match was so lopsided.  Lisicki next faces Sania Mirza in what is an extremely open part of the draw.

[7] N Petrova (RUS) d E Gallovits-Hall (ROU) 61 61

[Q] A Tatishvili (GEO) d [9] M Kirilenko (RUS) 57 75 63 -- Maria Kirilenko has had a year to forget, with its lowest point yet being this loss to the normally quite benign Anna Tatishvili.  Kirilenko has a quarterfinal in Rome and a fourth round at Roland Garros to defend in the next couple months, so if she doesn't regain her form she could be dropping towards Andreev territory in the rankings real soon.

[10] D Hantuchova (SVK) d E Rodina (RUS) 60 61

E Vesnina (RUS) d [14] B Mattek-Sands (USA) 64 76(6) -- A bad break for this tournament, which is now down to only one American (Christina McHale).  This match would normally be a toss-up, but I have to think the surface gave Vesnina a slight edge.

[15] B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) d A Rodionova (AUS) 63 16 63 -- I'm guessing this match was ignored by most spectators, but I would have been courtside with popcorn. I haven't heard any reports of major drama erupting between these two irritable (and irritating) combatants (and believe me, I've looked), but I'm willing to bet there were major fireworks.  Less certain there was a handshake.

Women's Doubles - First Round

[1] K Peschke (CZE) / K Srebotnik (SLO) d V Dushevina (RUS) / T Poutchek (BLR) 61 61

S Mirza (IND) / E Vesnina (RUS) d [2] L Huber (USA) / L Raymond (USA) 63 64 -- Personality-wise, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond seem like a real unworkable pairing.  Then again, I wind up thinking that about every pair that Liezel is half of.

S Peng (CHN) / J Zheng (CHN) d [3] V King (USA) / B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 23 ret'd -- Given all their successes together, I'm surprised Yaroslava Shvedova didn't stick around the US to play this tournament with Vania King.

J Goerges (GER) / N Petrova (RUS) d A Kleybanova (RUS) / Z Yan (CHN) 26 64 10-3

D Hantuchova (SVK) / M Kirilenko (RUS) d A Hlavackova (CZE) / R Voracova (CZE) 67(8) 62 16-14

R Kops-Jones (USA) / A Spears (USA) d M Kondratieva (RUS) / S Lefevre (FRA) 76(5) 67(5) 10-7 -- My favorite US Open quarterfinalists pairing ever took advantage of a very nice draw in their first round, but will be up for a much tougher test against Peng and Zheng in the next round.

A Kudryavtseva (RUS) / A Rodionova (AUS) d [WC] S Rogers (USA) / P Schnyder (SUI) 64 67(8) 10-6 -- A very solid effort from local Shelby Rogers and her elderly partner.  In other news, that Rodionova-Cara Black pairing sure didn't last long, did it?

ORDER OF PLAY - THURSDAY, APRIL 07, 2011

STADIUM start 11:00 am

[Q] A Tatishvili (GEO) vs [6] Y Wickmayer (BEL)

Not Before 1:00 PM

[1] C Wozniacki (DEN) vs [15] B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) -- This one could be fun, especially if Wozniacki starts to get frustrated with herself (as she is unappreciatedly wont to do).

E Vesnina (RUS) vs [2] S Stosur (AUS) -- A rematch of what was a very tough win for Stosur at the 2010 US Open.  The clay should allow Sam to kick the flat hitting Vesnina off the court, theoretically.

[Q] S Mirza (IND) vs [WC] S Lisicki (GER)

Not Before 7:00 PM

[3] J Jankovic (SRB) vs C Scheepers (RSA) -- These two were one of the more random doubles pairings ever at Wimbledon 2010.  Could be a close match if Jankovic is not at her best.

[4] B Mattek-Sands (USA) / M Shaughnessy (USA) vs D Hantuchova (SVK) / M Kirilenko (RUS)

ALTHEA GIBSON start 11:00 am

[5] S Peer (ISR) vs [12] J Goerges (GER) -- This one should be real, real lopsided in Peer's direction.  Shahar can move into the top ten this week.

Not Before 12:30 PM

[7] N Petrova (RUS) vs [11] S Peng (CHN) -- Nice contrast in styles, for sure.  Peng's been way hotter lately, so I'll tip her to win this one.

[10] D Hantuchova (SVK) vs C Mchale (USA)

[1] K Peschke (CZE) / K Srebotnik (SLO) vs J Goerges (GER) / N Petrova (RUS)

Sixteen matches in the books, but only two real upsets to speak of so far in the first round of Davis Cup 2011 World Group action.

Catching up on each tie as it goes into Saturday’s doubles rubber, in the same unparticular order as last time:

Romania at Argentina (Parque Roca, Buenos Aires) (Argentina Leads 2-0) - What I expected to be the most straightforward of the eight ties has had the winners expected, even if the matches have taken a little longer than expected. David Nalbandian opened the tie with a 6-3. 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Adrian Ungur, and Juan Monaco put Argentina a win from advancing with a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Victor Hanescu.  Horia Tecau is a solid doubles player, but I still expect the Gauchos to close it out in the doubles.

Spain at Belgium (Spiroudome, Charleroi) (Spain Leads 2-0) - Fernando Verdasco was a late substitution for David Ferrer, but the Spain train rolled on as expected, winning all six sets contested on Friday. Verdasco rolled over Xavier Malisse 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to open the tie, and Rafael Nadal rolled in the second with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Ruben Bemelmans. Spain didn't need Nadal to beat Belgium, but that his decision to return from injury at the competition shows the Spanish commitment to Davis Cup that has kept Spain's Armada sailing so flawlessly in recent years. And in 2011, there's absolutely no indication that the ship will sink in Charleroi.

Kazakhstan at Czech Republic (CEZ Arena, Ostrava) (Tied 1-1) - Rankings held in the first two rubbers of this tie, with Andrey Golubev besting Jan Hajek in a surprisingly tight 6-7(4) 7-6(3) 6-1 6-7(4) 3-6 marathon, then Tomas Berdych surviving several first set deficits en route to a 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3 win over Mikhail Kukushkin. Kukushkin-Hajek is tough to predict, but it seems like the Czechs should be the favorites in the other two ties. Still a whole lot to sort out in Ostrava.

United States at Chile (Estadio Nacional, Santiago) (Tied 1-1) - The biggest surprise of the day came in its final match.  After Andy Roddick got through in a predictably grindy four setter against Nicolas Massu, ATP #165 ranked Paul Capdeville came back from down two sets to upset #32 John Isner 6-4 in the fifth set.  Isner's year has been entirely disappointing, with about ten fewer wins so far in 2011 than he had at this point in 2010. It's an interesting trial for new captain Jim Courier in his first tie, especially since with both Bryan brothers on the team he has no flexibility in his singles lineup.  But the Bryans will win, and it's tough to see Roddick losing to Capdeville as well.

France at Austria (Vienna Airport Hangar 3, Vienna) (France Leads 2-0) - What was always going to be a tough tie for Austria to win became completely impossible when Jeremy Chardy beat Jurgen Melzer in straight sets in the opening rubber. A routine straight-sets victory by Gilles Simon over Stefan Koubek (he's still playing?) in the second rubber puts the French in position to close it out on Saturday at the airport. Maybe the Austrians will let them catch an early flight home.

Russia at Sweden (Borashallen, Boras) (Sweden Leads 2-0) - Sweden is a deceptively tough team, but this result will be completely about the decimation of the Russian team.  Teymuraz Gabashvili and Igor Andreev are not strong options for any tie, much less one on an indoor hard court. Russia will be facing relegation in the playoffs this year, and if they come up against a team like Switzerland they could easily be demoted for the first time over a decade.

India at Serbia (Spens Sports Center, Novi Sad) (Tied 1-1) - I mentioned in my preview of this tie what a thoroughly annoying opponent Somdev Devvarman can be, and he completely lived up to that reputation on Friday.  Hitting 81 winners in three sets, Janko Tipsarevic lacked the patience and shot selection to even win a single set in front of the Serbian crowd in Novi Sad. It's still tough to see Serbia losing this tie, but it's now far more interesting than it needed to be.

Germany at Croatia (Dom Sportova, Zagreb) (Tied 1-1) - The tie I expected to be closest has completely lived up to that billing, with each side winning a five setter in Zagreb Friday. Marin Cilic and Philipp Kohlschreiber each came down from two sets to one against Florian Mayer and Ivan Dodig, respectively. Croatia should be able to serve its way to a victory in doubles, but it's still far too early to predict much in this tie.