Mardy Fish defeats John Isner to claim the second straight title – Atlanta Tennis Championships 2011
In the all-American clash that followed on Sunday afternoon, the world number nine, Mardy Fish, outplayed his third seeded fellow compatriot, John Isner in the final of Atlanta Tennis Championships, being played at Atlanta, the
United States.
The enthralling contest took two hours and sixteen minutes to conclude, with the top seed Fish settling the final score at 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, to bag the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 title in front of
his home crowd.
It was the most exciting matchup being played in the tournament, with high quality tennis exhibited by the two contestants. Isner was off to a flyer, bagging the opening set with ease and raced away to two match points in the second
set. Fish was on the brink of suffering a title defeat but the world number nine displayed his true class to deny his opponent from the match points and then went on to register his second consecutive win against Isner in the final of Atlanta Tennis Championships.
“When you’re in that position, it’s almost over,” said Fish after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, “I was lucky to get out of it. I played some good points. I don’t think he missed any first serves there. I stuck some
returns and put some balls in play.”
Seeded at number three in the tournament, Isner took off the opener with authority and absolutely outclassed the defending champion at the beginning. He banged eight thudding aces and reeled 17 first serve points, in contrast with
Fish’s eight points in the first set. One serve break in the fourth game by Isner proved sufficient for him to bag the opening set at 6-3 and get in a good position in the contest.
After an early trade of serve breaks from both men, the second set went on neck-to-neck to reach the tie breaker round at 6-6. Fish faced two match points in the tie breaker round but the top seed American successfully defended
both of them. He recovered from a deficit of 1-5 to clinch the second set at 7-6(6), to remain alive in the contest.
“I didn’t necessarily change anything tactically,” Fish said. “I took care of my serve games a little bit better once I lost serve in the first game of the second.”
Once winning the second set, Fish never looked back in the final set of the match and stung two serve breaks to rocket away to victory at 6-2, to win Atlanta Tennis Championships for a second consecutive year.
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