AP, Atlanta :
John Isner opened his bid for a fourth straight BB&T Atlanta Open title Wednesday night, overpowering France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-0.
Isner had 16 aces on the Atlantic Station hardcourt in the warmup event for the U.S. Open.
The top-seeded former University of Georgia star has reached the finals in Atlanta five of the previous six years and is 21-3 in the event. He has 10 ATP Tour titles.
In the quarterfinals, the 6-foot-10 American will face the winner of a late match between eighth-seeded Taylor Fritz and fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo.
Seventh-seeded Donald Young and fellow American Reilly Opelka set up a quarterfinal matchup in the afternoon session. Young beat countryman Tim Smyczek 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3, and Opelka upset third-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa,6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5.
