Mardy Fish ousts Xavier Malisse in the quarter-finals – Citi Open 2012
American number two, Mardy Fish, faced limited resistance in toppling the 67th ranked Belgian player, Xavier Malisse, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of Citi Open in Washington, USA on Friday. The top
seed needed one hour and 20 minutes to undo his Belgian opponent in a one-sided contest.
Fish and Malisse did not lose their serve in the opening five games and took the score to 3-2 in the latter’s favour. The American contestant struck in the sixth one and held his next serve to attain a 5-2 advantage. Fish allowed
the Belgian player to claim only one game in the rest of the set, closing it 6-3.
The 6ft 2in tall pounded four aces and did not commit any double fault in the opener. Fish had a low first serve percentage of 33 but managed to convert nine of the 11 of them into points. The 30-year-old saved both break threats
he faced and converted the only chance he received.
Fish did not allow the Belgian contestant to settle down in the second set, as he snatched a break in the very first game and held his following serve to go up 2-0. The world number 15 did not drop even a single one of his serves
till the end, capturing it 6-4.
The American star bombarded six aces on Malisse but also made a couple of double faults this time, keeping his first serve percentage at 50 and securing 11 of the 16 points on them.
Fish had performed consistently in the last two years, which he lacked at the start of his career. After winning his second round match, he had stated, "I feel like I can go out against someone like I played tonight and not lose.
That's important. You'd be surprised, in years past I felt like I could really beat anyone, but I could also lose to anyone on any given day. And I feel like if I play relatively normal right now.”
The American will face former world number two, Tommy Haas, in the semi-finals.
Talking about his next opponent, Fish said, "I expect a really tough match. He's a great player, he was as high as two in the world a while ago, but he’s had a bunch of injuries. He seems like he is close to being 100 per cent
back with his health. It’s great for him, we are really good friends. It’ll be fun. It’s the reason why I’m out here."
From their four previous meetings on the ATP World Tour, Fish has lost to Haas three times.
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