Michael Russell shocks Mardy Fish on his return – Tennis News
In an all-American clash, Michael Russell halted the former Top 10, Mardy Fish, on his return to tennis at the BB&T Atlanta Open 2013 on Wednesday. He summed up a 4-6, 6-2,7-5 victory against his compatriot to secure a spot in
the second round at this ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in Atlanta, United States of America.
Seeded sixth in this event, Fish squandered his one set lead as he failed to seek his momentum after the rain breaks. The players were battling each other for the fourth time and after securing this victory, Russell levelled the
FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against the 31-year-old.
“I played fantastic,” said the unseeded Russell, a semi-finalist in Newport. “Mardy’s such a great competitor. I thought he played really well, first match back in four months. I thought it was a really high quality match. Both
of us, on big points, were coming up with great shots… It’s a positive for both of us going into the summer.”
Currently ranked 63rd in the Emirates Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Fish made a convincing entry in this match. He failed to fend off the only breakpoint he came across but cashed two out of six break chances to seal
the opener by winning six games to four.
The match was suspended due to rain for few minutes. However, when the match resumed, Russell came back strong. With a single break of serve, he jumped to a 4-2 lead before rain postponed the match to Wednesday evening. When players
returned to court the other day, the world number 85 carried his momentum and easily grabbed the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
In the deciding set, Fish drew the first blood in the opening game and took the initial lead. However, he lost his track and levelled the scores in the sixth game. The higher ranked American lost his serve again in the last game
and eventually suffered a 5-7 loss.
In another all-American battle, former world number four James Blake outlasted his qualifying compatriot, Tim Smyczek, with a 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4) score line in two hours and 14 minutes.
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