Mardy Fish rallies past Robin Haase into the round of 16 – Wimbledon Championships 2011
America’s top player Mardy Fish, ranked 9th in the world, qualified for the fourth round as world number 58 Robin Haase of the Netherlands retired during their third round match. Fish led 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2, 1-1 when the
Dutch decided to quit the match due to injury. The contest lasted for two hour and 34 minutes.
Fish drew the first blood as he broke his opponent in the fourth game of the opening set and held his next service game to blaze forward to a 4-1 lead. The American served out the set at 5-3.
The 29-year-old hit four aces and converted a whopping 88 percent of the first serves into points in the opening set. Fish won eleven of the thirteen net approach points in the first set. The American converted one of the two break
point opportunities he created on Haase’s serve and saved both break points he faced on his own serve in the opening set.
The right-handed and Haase failed in breaking each other’s serve in the second set and equalised the score at 6-6, forcing a tie-break. Haase hit a back hand winner to capture a single mini-break in the tie-break, bagging it 7-5.
The Dutch fired four aces and seventeen winners in the second set. The Hague resident committed three double faults and made twelve unforced errors in the second set. The 24-year-old sealed 69 percent of the first service points
and 45 percent of the second service points in the second set.
Helped by Haase’s injury, Fish thrashed the Dutchman in the third set, allowing him to win just two games and breaking him twice to win the set 6-2.
The American hit 67 percent of the first serves and eleven winners in the third set. The Florida resident won 81 percent of the first service points in the third set. On the other hand, Haase managed to grab a meagre 48 percent
of the first service points. The Dutch failed to save two of the seven break points and could not convert the only break point opportunity he created on the American’s serve in the third set.
In the fourth set, Fish and Haase held their serve in the first two games to square off the score at 1-1. At that moment, Haase decided to discontinue the match due to injury.
The American is slated to meet world number 7 Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the round of 16. The Czech ousted American Alex Bogomolov Jr. in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in the third round.
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