• What the Deuce

Things are going swimmingly for Fish

Jo Carter July 27, 2010

"This is as top as I've ever been," said Mardy Fish after winning the Atlanta Tennis Championships in Georgia.

"I've never won two tournaments in one year, I've never won two tournaments in a row and on the ATP Tour; I've never won 10 matches in a row. It's probably as good as it's been."

It's been a reversal of fortunes for Fish. After fracturing his rib last July, he played in just three tournaments in the second half of last season, winning just one match. Then after knee surgery he slipped out of the world's top 100.

But a strict diet and rigorous training regime has seen him shed over two stone, and he is reaping the rewards for the hours spent in the gym. Fish Mark II, the fitter, sleeker version, has reached the final of three of his last four tournaments, winning two of them.

Fish was in a dominant mood in Atlanta. After dishing out a thrashing to British No. 4 James Ward, he dumped out defending champion Robby Ginepri before a thoroughly convincing victory over compatriot Taylor Dent. And that's without dropping a set.

Admittedly those three wins came against players ranked well below him. But then came the slightly more daunting opponent of world No. 9 Andy Roddick, the top seed in Atlanta, returning to the scene of his first ATP title for the first time since 2001.

But Fish's match against Roddick was more than just a man on form against a former world No. 1. Roddick and Fish have history, but not in the sense of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal having history. They are best friends, school friends, and former team-mates, having played on the school basketball team in Florida together. Fish even lived with Roddick's family for a year.

"Mardy is one of my closest friends," Roddick said recently. "When we go on tour we do everything together. It's never a fun match to play."

But there is no rivalry to speak of. Roddick had won eight of their nine previous meetings. But in a reflection of his sky-high confidence, Fish beat his pal for the first time in seven years, and in straight sets at that.

His victory in Newport two weeks ago completed a clean sweep of titles on all surfaces - one grass-court title, one hard-court, one on clay and one indoors. And now he's had another first - the first time he has won more than one title in a year.

For a man who was ranked outside of the top 100 in March, three finals in his last four tournaments isn't bad going. That's a record world No. 4 Andy Murray would be proud of.

But while Murray's focus remains firmly on winning his first Grand Slam title, and peaking accordingly, Fish's goals will be a completely different kettle of er...fish.

At 28, Fish is unlikely to be challenging for Grand Slam titles, nor will he be expected to make a charge into the world top 10. But he is clearly enjoying his tennis, and with three titles to his name before the start of 2010, Fish could legitimately double the contents of his trophy cabinet this year.

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