Mardy Fish begins Los Angeles campaign in prolific style; downs Gilles Muller – Farmers Classic 2011
Top seed American Mardy Fish marks his return to the courts with an empathetic two set win against his opponent Luxemburg’s Gilles Muller on Thursday. Opening the match with a sluggish start, Fish proved his strength and completely
dominated the second set. The one hour eighteen minutes eagerly anticipated match closed at 7-6(1), 6-1 and meant an effective end for Muller from the Farmers Classic, an Olympus US Open Series tournament. US crowds can rest assured; the American is a strong
contender for the hard court title.
World No. 9 Fish is currently the highest ranked American, ahead of Andy Roddick by 3 points. He has been on a roll this season, bagging his first ATP title of the year at the recently concluded tournament in Atlanta. 29 year old
Fish’s season win-loss mark stands at an enviable 26-14 and the player is frequently cited as a serious contender at the US Open later this year. With this win, Fish secures his seventh quarterfinal berth of the year.
Luxemburg’s Muller came into the tournament with a pitiable 9-4 win-loss standing this season and is still on the lookout for his career’s first ATP title. The 71st ranked player had opened his Los Angeles campaign by
winning a desperately fought 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 match against wildcard Steve Johnson.
The first set saw a furious bout of play by Muller, in a desperate bid to destroy the top dog right from the onset. Muller fired past 4 well placed aces against Fish who responded by delivering 3 of his own. However Muller’s service
could not get past the 50% mark and he managed to win only 68% of the first serve points of those serves. Both the players registered one set break each to take the game into a tiebreak. It was in the tiebreak that the crowds first witnessed the exceptional
skills of the American. Limiting Muller to only 1 point, Fish deftly seized the set by gaining 7 points.
The second set was a superb exhibit of a rejuvenated Fish’s exceptional skills and prowess. His opponent crumbled completely under the mounting pressure of the top seed and managed to win only a single game in this set. Fish registered
three superbly placed aces while serving at 59%, of which he amassed 85% first serve points. The incapacitated Muller couldn’t win even one of the two breakpoints while the American cashed two serve break opportunities with effortless ease. The set closed
at 6-1, in Fish’s favour by a huge margin.
The top American will now play his quarter final match in Los Angeles’ Straus Stadium on Friday against eighth seed Russian Igor Kunitsyn. Kunitsyn had moved to the top 8 by winning his match against Ryan Sweeting earlier that
day.
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