Mardy Fish vs Janko Tipsarevic – Semi-final Preview: Rogers Cup 2011
World number eight, Mardy Fish of the United States takes on the 24th ranked Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the second semi-final of Rogers Cup on Saturday afternoon to battle out for a place in the final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series event.
The contest will be staged on the hard courts of the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada, with two fine players encountering for getting a shot at the championship title. Seeded at number six in the tournament, Fish has laboured hard to get to the semi-finals and is reckoned to be the favourite for winning the title. The American took down Feliciano Lopez and Ernests Gulbis in the initial rounds before meeting the Swiss number two, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the quarter-final clash. Fish went through tough times before concluding victory against Wawrinka in three sets, 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-0, to meet Tipsarevic in the semis.
Fish claimed his career best ranking of world number eight last month, after his consistent performance with the racquet this year. The American played 47 singles matches this ATP season and has registered victories in 32 of them, including a title victory at Atlanta Tennis Championships by defeating his fellow compatriot, John Isner in an enthralling battle. Fish became America’s number one tennis player in April this year, toppling over Andy Roddick and is certainly deemed to be the favourite for the semi-final matchup against Tipsarevic.
Unseeded in the tournament, Tipsarevic is playing his fifth semi-final of the running year and has been in a impressive form in Rogers Cup so far. The 24th ranked Serb outplayed Alejandro Falla and then the 15th seed Fernando Verdasco in the opening two rounds of the tournament. He then took down Ivan Dodig, who stunned Rafael Nadal in the second round, in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of Montreal Masters. Tipsarevic got in the spot light when he outclassed the seventh seeded Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the semi-final round of Rogers Cup.
The Serb is striving for his first ATP championship title at Montreal. He made it to five semi-finals this year and suffered defeats in the finals of two tournaments, finishing runner-up at Delray Beach to Juan Martin Del Potro and then at Eastbourne to Andreas Seppi. Tipsarevic’s victory in the quarter-final will send him in the top-20 for the first time in his career when the new South African Airways ATP Rankings will be leased on coming Monday.
“Mardy is a really intelligent player,” Tipsarevic praised Fish after his quarter-final victory. “He’s a typical example of an all around player that can defend, stay back, be passive, but then on the other hand go to the net, play serve and volley and completely mix up the game.”
The Serb has lost his last three matches against Fish and will certainly wish to break his three-match losing streak against the American on Saturday. He trails the head-to-head series against Fish by 1-4 but both men have one victory a piece on hard courts. Fish is the hot favourite for the quarter-final clash on Saturday and Tipsarevic needs to come up with something extraordinary if he desires to get through to the final of Rogers Cup.
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