Mardy Fish ousts Juan Martin Del Potro to reach the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open
American Mardy Fish, ranked 15th in the world, prevailed over world number 51 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(5) in the round of 16 at the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday. The American took
2 hours and 25 minutes to oust his opponent.
Fish and Del Potro held their serves in the first ten games of the opening set, levelling the score at 5-5. The American continued to serve well as he successfully held his serve in the eleventh game to take a 6-5 lead. Serving
to stay in the set at 5-6, Del Potro failed to hold his serve to lose the first set 5-7.
Fish fired in 6 aces and committed a single double fault in the opening set. He delivered 60 per cent of the first serves and converted 85 per cent of them into points. The American managed to save all the 5 break points in the
first set. On the other hand, Del Potro saved 6 of the 7 break points in the opening set.
After winning a close first set, Fish took the early lead in the second set as he broke his opponent in the fourth game to go ahead 3-1. However, the Argentine broke back immediately and held his serve in the next game, levelling
the score at 3-3. Fish and Del Potro held their serve in the next six games to level the score at 6-6, taking the set to a tie-break. The American claimed a single mini-break in the tie-break to win it 7-5.
Fish hit 4 aces and 60 per cent of the first serves in the second set. The American converted 84 per cent of his first serves into points in the second set. Both Fish and Del Potro converted the only break point they received in
the second set.
Commenting on his match, Fish said, “It was pretty high quality tennis for the better part of it, I think. I'm sure he came off thinking he played pretty well. And I played great.”
Fish is just one win away from becoming the top American player on the tour. The right handed will replace Andy Roddick as the number 1 American if he reaches the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open. However, Fish thinks that
Roddick will remain the best player in USA even if the former over takes his counterpart in the rankings.
Fish said, “You just kind of feel like coming through with Andy and the career that he's put together, you really feel like it would probably be pretty tough to still feel like I was the No. 1 American. I mean, his career put on
my career, he could put it on top of mine 15 times.”
The 29-year-old is drawn to face world number 6 David Ferrer of Spain in the quarter-finals.
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