The Time is now for Mardy Fish to make a Splash
It's time for Mardy Fish to make a splash at the U.S. Open 2010. Mardy Fish is really excited, as he is the first American through to the third round of this tournament. For the very first time in his career he is among the favourites in a Grand Slam event.
"There's a lot of people that have talked about my summer and how well I've played," he said Thursday. "To be honest, I felt like I've been the underdog most matches in my career. I've never put myself in a Grand Slam sort of as a guy that people talk about to really do well here. This is the spot that I want to be in."
Uptill now Fish has behaved like a true favourite. After a tense first set, Fish wrecked Pablo Cuevas at 7-5, 6-0, and 6-2 on the fourth day at the U.S. Open. He played with a very Federer style; having Federer’s tennis playing qualities, he easily defeated Pablo Cuevas at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
This time around Fish performed very differently from his previous appearances in New York where in his first seven tournaments, he was defeated in the first few rounds. Then in 2007 he went for his first major tournament at Australia and then advanced to the second major quarterfinals of his career in 2008 at the U.S. Open. But unfortunately last year, he missed his first Open due to his injured knee and had to undergo intense surgery.
His extraordinary story has been told and retold. The manner in which Fish is so affected by his professional life. He has totally changed his way of living to suit his career in the best possible way. He has reduced his caloric diet and lost 30 pounds in the process and has been recklessly working out. Fish used to be an underachiever, but has now started behaving like an over achiever.
He is moving better, returning aces, giving unpredictable shots and playing with confidence, he was 16-2 this summer, achieving titles at Newport and Atlanta and reaching the final at Cincinnati. Fish defeated Andrew Murray and Andy Roddick before losing to Roger Federer.
"From Newport, I feel like that was the beginning of maybe a 12-month run that I can try to get myself into the top 10," Fish said. "I have a really good opportunity. I'm excited."
The best moment in his career was in 2004, when he achieved his highest ranking No. 17. "After the [2004] Olympics, people talked a lot," Fish said. "I didn't handle it well. I learned from it, obviously. I've learned from even my first-round match here to just be a little more loose, have a little more fun, and enjoy the spot that you're in."
Roddick is another remarkable case, he is a close friend of Fish and quite a contemporary. Roddick’s interesting second-round against Janko Tipsarevic, where he won the match Wednesday night underlined his possibly fleeting shelf life as a top 10 player of the tennis world.
The U.S. Open is one of Fish’s favorite tournaments. According to Fish, Roddick will soon put himself in the best possible positions at Wimbledon. Fish really admires him for his incredible action during the spring season; he could have been a winner if there had been any Grand Slams during the spring.
Fish has his own problems right now though, as he would be facing trouble in his upcoming competition in the form of Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. Fish is preparing hard for that, as his battle with the 32-year-old Arnaud Clement would be comparatively simple.
In an interview Fish said that he certainly feels that he could wins battles against upcoming tough players like Novak Djokovic. He said that he knows they are tough competitors but he has beaten a couple of them is Slams. He was worried about the fact that he had never come against them deep into a tournament, but the American still seemed confident and has been preparing hard to give them some tough competition.
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