Mardy Fish plans a comeback to Houston in 2011
The professional tennis ace from the United States of America Mardy Fish has been announced as the first singles contender to take part in the next year’s US Men’s Clay Court Tournament at the River Oaks Country Club.
Mardy, who is concluding the 2001 season ranked number sixteen in the South African Airways ATP list, will headline the singles field whereas the number one duo of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, will lead the doubles draw.
The right hander, Fish, who made his debut on the ATP World Tour back in 2000, has so far captured a total of five singles title on the tour and has advanced into the title battle of three Master Series competitions, Cincinnati back in 2003 and 2010 as well
as Indian Wells two years ago. Mardy’s best results at Grand Slam tournaments include two quarterfinal appearances at the Australian Open and the United States Open back in 2007 and 08 respectively.
The Florida resident started his 2010 campaign by playing at the SAP Open in San Jose along with his doubles partner and countrymen Sam Querrey. The player got the better of Benjamin Becker and Leonardo Mayer in two sets to win the title in the end. The
final match score was 7-6(3), 7-5. By virtue of this victory, the American improved his career record to 7-1 in the ATP World Tour doubles finals.
After suffering early round exits at the Sony Ericsson as well as Queen’s club, Fish played at the grass court Grand Slam tournament in London, where he was toppled in the second round at the hands of Florian Mayer in four sets. The final score line was
6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
After Wimbledon, the 1.88 meters tall Fish took part in the final grass court competition of the season, the Hall of Fame Tennis Tournament in New Port where he lifted his fourth career crown after thrashing out Olivier Rochus in the final in three sets.
As a result of this title victory, the right hander who also won a silver medal at the Olympic Games back in 2004, cracked to the top fifty at number forty nine in the world.
He continued his impressive form of run and went on to win another title at the Atlanta Tennis Competition, beating John Isner in the finals. In his return to the Cincinnati Masters, the American tennis ace overpowered Gilles Simon, Fernando Verdaso, Andy
Roddick and Richard Gasquet before losing to Roger Federer in a three setter final. The score line was 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-4.
Mardy shed a total of 30 pounds prior to the start of the 2010 season which also helped him a great deal in performing better throughout the year.
“I am very happy with how 2010 went for me. It was nice to see hard work off the court pay off with some great results,” reflected Fish.
Currently enjoying his career high ranking of world number sixteen, Mardy is no stranger to Houston, having picked up the US Men’s Clay Court tournament singles crown back in 2006 while recording a 9-7 mark all-time in the contest.
The director of the tournament, Van Barry while commenting on Mardy’s participation in the competition said, “We are excited to welcome Mardy Fish back to Houston and River Oaks. Each year we have a great international field with players from all over the
World, but we are excited to have our earliest commitments to be from some of the top American players like Mardy and the Bryan Brothers.”
In the doubles field, Mardy is a two-time champion in Houston, pairing up with Andy Roddick to win the trophy in 2002 and with James Blake back in 2004.
The Bryan brothers, on the other hand, will also be in quest to pick up their fourth US Men’s Clay Court Championship trophy when they return in April. The 32-year-old American twins finished the season as the top ranked tandem in the world, having captured
a total of eleven crowns in 2010.
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