2011 BNP Paribas Open - ATP Seeds Part XIII: Mardy Fish
World Number 15 Mardy Fish is currently the second-highest ranked American on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, coming up seven spots behind Grand Slam winner Andy Roddick. The pro from Minnesota began playing in a
professional capacity in 2000, and has been part of the tour for over ten years. Currently 29 years old, the player has never been ranked higher than his current position.
The American pro has played in four tournaments so far this year, starting his 2011 campaign at the Brisbane International. He was ousted in the second round by Czech player Radek Stepanek, after which he competed in the Australian
Open. Although he was ranked World Number 17 at the Grand Slam, Fish’s ranking did not help him past the second round. He was upset by Spanish World Number 28 Tommy Robredo.
Fish posted much better results at his next tournament in Memphis, where he retained his ranking of World Number 17. His first round opponent was Russian pro Teymuraz Gabashvili, whom he ousted in straight sets. After that, he
took on Lukas Lacko and Sam Querrey to reach the semi-finals. His run was ended by Canadian wild card, 20-year-old Milos Raonic.
The American’s next tournament was at Delray Beach, where he defeated players Bjorn Phau of Germany, Ricardo Mello of Brazil and Alejandro Falla of Columbia to reach the semi-finals of the Florida event. Here, he was ousted by
2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets.
Fish has competed at the Indian Wells Masters nine times prior to this, making his debut at the tournament in 2001. His best performance at the event was in 2008, when he was ranked World Number 98. The unseeded pro managed to
defeated German Florian Mayer, Russians Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko, and Australian former World Number 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the first four rounds of the tournament. He reached the quarterfinals against Argentine David Nalbandian, whom he upset to reach
the semi-final against then-World Number 1 Roger Federer. He defeated the Swiss Maestro in a surprise straight-sets win, which helped him to proceed to the finals against Novak Djokovic. The Serbian defeated him in three sets to take the title.
Mardy Fish has not been able to reproduce the results of his resounding success in 2008 in any other year. He competed in 2009 as World Number 20, but was ousted by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his first match. He was unranked in
2010 as World Number 106, and suffered a three-set loss at the hands of World Number 3 Novak Djokovic in the second round.
The American pro will be facing World Number 37 Milos Raonic in the second round of the tournament. The Canadian wildcard successfully upset Fish just a few weeks ago, and is expected to repeat the result.
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