World No. 9 Mardy Fish saved two match points in recording a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over fellow American John Isner to defend his Atlanta Tennis Championship title Sunday. In a repeat of last year's final, American No. 1 Fish was deep in trouble in the second set tiebreak when he trailed 5-1 and 6-4 but reeled off four straight points to take the match into a decider. The momentum carried over to the third set as Fish broke Isner in the first game and then held to love. “When you're in that position, it's almost over,” Fish told the ATP Tour website. “I was lucky to get out of it. I stuck some returns and put some balls in play. I played some good points from then on.” Isner was unable to capitalize on two break points in the sixth game of the decider, then gifted another break to Fish when he double-faulted twice to fall behind 5-2. “I ran out of gas in the third set,” Isner told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I didn't feel my best. Maybe it was the heat. I don't know what it was but it was the difference in the third set.” Fish closed out the match to win his sixth title and deny Isner a consecutive trophy after he won on the Newport, Rhode Island grasscourts two weeks ago. The Atlanta tournament is the first in the US Open series which culminates in the Flushing Meadows Grand Slam. Fish, del Potro top seeds American Mardy Fish and former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro head the field for the ATP hardcourt tournament that starts in Los Angeles Monday. Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, who is clawing his way back up the rankings after a wrist injury sidelined him for much of 2010, will make his first ATP start since a fourth-round exit from Wimbledon at the hands of Rafael Nadal. Del Potro, who won the Los Angeles title in 2008, won his lone singles match in Argentina's 5-0 Davis Cup whitewash of Kazakhstan earlier this month. After his breakthrough Grand Slam triumph at Flushing Meadows in 2009, Del Potro was limited to three tournaments by his wrist injury in 2010 and saw his ranking tumble from fourth in the world to 485 in January. He arrives at the tournament on the courts at the University of California at Los Angeles back in the top 20 at No. 19. Fish, del Potro, third seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and fourth seed Thomaz Bellucci all have first round byes. The remaining four seeded positions went to Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse at No. 5, Russian Dmitry Tursunov (6), Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov (7) and Russian Igor Kunitsyn (8).
