Mardy Fish Wins Campbell Hall of Fame Tennis Championship
As the recent winner of the Campbell Hall of Fame tournament, Mardy Fish is a Newport favorite, as the 28-year-old tennis pro has just ended his eighth Hall of Fame tournament since 2000, finally earning the tournament title this year. The Tampa Bay native, who also earned one of the biggest victories in his career at the Sony Ericsson Open when he defeated 2009 champion Andy Murray, was once a top-20 player, though has faced a string of injuries in the past couple of years which have slowed down his career.
Although Fish has previously participated in the Campbell Hall of Fame tournament eight times, his final tournament results have not always given him the results he expected. In 2001 he lost in the second round, in 2002 he was knocked out in the quarterfinals, in 2003 he didn’t make it nearly as far and was knocked out in the first round and in 2006 faced the same results as 2002 and was knocked out again in the quarterfinals.
Although the Olympic silver medalist was a top seed player in 2007, he also lost the tournament in the first round. The following year he was top seed again, only to lose in the second round. And finally last year the player had to withdraw due to a knee injury, so it obviously hasn’t been an easy ride for him to get to this point.
Fish had also said in the past while making a comeback from left knee surgery that he believes that his declining fortunes had made him a doubles specialist, as the Minnesota born player has previously led the American team in the Davis Cup in 2008 with his doubles match win, along with partner Mike Bryan in the semi-finals against Spain. However as a singles player, the years haven’t been nearly as kind to him.
Fitness regimen pays off
Although his playing has been inconsistent as evident from his previous eight years at the tournament, this year was different for the seven time doubles title winner, who has recently undergone a fitness regime and subsequently dropped 30 pounds, and has had the results of his fitness success rub off on his game.
During the tournament Fish captured his fourth ATP World Tour win in Newport as he served up 24 aces past the fourth seeded Olivier Rochus of Belgium, claiming his 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory in a little over two hours. Fish, is currently ranked 79th and the winner of four titles on the ATP Tour, and played his best to beat Rochus, who is currently ranked 65th.
"He's a great player. He went to the final at Queen's," Rochus said of Fish before the match. "He's a good player on grass. I'm here in the final. I have nothing to lose against Mardy. It's going to be a very difficult match."
"I can't say I did play a bad final, didn't go for it," Rochus said afterwards. "I went for it. The last two games were so close. Mardy was pushing hard at the end."
Throughout the week of the tournament, Fish gave credit to his fitness as an enabling his success. Last month he finished runner-up to Sam Querrey at the AEGON Championships in London, another ATP Tour grass-court tournament. Fish's victory in the grass court event helped to make up for his loss to fellow American Sam Querrey in the Queen's final this year.
"It means a lot to win now on every surface in my career – indoor, outdoor, hard, clay and grass," said Fish. "I’ve certainly lost a lot of heartbreak finals, and it feels good to win one."
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