By DPA,
Atlanta : Three weeks after crashing out in the Wimbledon fourth round, Andy Roddick will aim for a return to form after accepting a wildcard into next week’s Atlanta Tennis Championships.
The three-time Wimbledon finalist was humbled by Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun and has not been near a court since the June 28 upset loss.
But the world number nine American looks to boost the home box office at the new Atlanta event which begins Monday.
Roddick joins an inaugural field at the new re-invention of an event formerly held a decade ago. Also entered in the first hardcourt outing in the US Open run-up are newly notorious John Isner, winner at Wimbledon of the longest match ever played, former number one Lleyton Hewitt, and Americans James Blake and Robby Ginepri.
Ginepri, a local, won the Indianapolis title last summer before that event was sold to Atlanta due to a lack of sponsorship and plans to tear down the local university tennis centre to make way for an office block.
Roddick will take the top seeding in Atlanta. The 27-year-old played back in the day, winning the title in 2001 while ranked 89th, the first American teenager to win an ATP title at the time since Michael Chang in 1992.
Roddick comes into Atlanta with a 32-7 match record this season, with a trophy from January in Brisbane. He also stands atop the ATP statistics table with a best 26-4 hard court record.
Also playing is American Mardy Fish, title winner on grass last weekend in Newport. A wildcard was also given to Briton James Ward.