Mardy Fish survives Bernard Tomic’s threat in quarterfinal – Tokyo Open 2011
Fourth seeded American Mardy Fish bounced back to register a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 victory over the Australian Bernard Tomic at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Tournament, an outdoor hard court even from the ATP World Tour 500 series
held in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. After earning this three setter victory against the Aussie youngster, he secured a last four spot on Friday.
World number eight, Fish displayed awe-inspiring skills to overwhelm threat posed by the teenager, ranked 50 spots below him in the ATP rankings, on their second meeting. The American not only extended lead in the head-to-head
series by 2-0 against Tomic but also advanced into the semi-finals.
Fish and Tomic were evenly match in the opening set as they exchanged two breaks, one by his powerful forehands and the Aussie through blistering backhands.
The American clobbered a first serve share of 60 percent and registered an impressive 76 percent win on it. He converted two out of three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
Tomic on the other side manifested a better first serve share of 70 percent and earned a plausible 65 percent win on it. Furthermore, he converted two out of five breakpoint chances to his advantage and smashed five ferocious aces.
The set went to a tie-breaker where the 18-year-old Aussie edged over the American to clinch the opener with a 7-6(5) score line.
29-year-old Fish furiously dug his way back on the US$1,100,000 track. He kept his serves convincingly until he got the first blood in the ninth game. The American then held his serve in the following game to seal the equaliser
with a 6-4 score line. He
The Minnesotan native, Fish kept momentum rushing into the final set and got the desiderated break in the opening game to take the initial lead. After the rising Aussie star held his serve in the third game, the top tenner lifted
his level of game to wipe out last four games in a row and earned a breadstick.
Next challenge for the American is the winner of the match between top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Colombian Santiago Giraldo. Fish needs to improve his game in order to face the world number two Nadal who is most likely to
succeed.
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