[情報] Mardy Fish Article
Mardy Fish Article
From Tennis Week
In perhaps the most monumental match of his three-year professional career,
Mardy Fish created the fastest fold of the season.
Karol Kucera, who swept Fish in straight sets in the second round of the U.S.
Open weeks earlier, held a one-set lead and a pair of break points against Fish
on clay in the United States' Davis Cup tie against the Slovak Republic in Brat
islava. Playing on perhaps his worst surface with his team trailing in the tie,
Fish was fully aware a defeat would be devastating to U.S. hopes of returning
to World Group play.
It was then that the fiercely focused Fish played his finest tennis of the matc
h, turning the tension of a tight match into a routine rout as he reeled off
nine straight games that caused nearly two thirds of the crowds to head for the
exits .
The fast-folding seats were a clear sign that Fish had made a successful stand
and minutes later he had earned a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 victory.
"I had no idea which way it was gonna go," Fish said of the match. "And all of
a sudden I was up two sets to one and 4-0 with two breaks. The seating capacity
in that arena is probably like four thousand and all of a sudden there was only
like 1,500 people there. It was awesome."
The victory not only helped secure a spot in the World Group for the United Sta
tes, it may well have helped U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe retain his post. Four
consecutive Davis Cup road losses left some critics calling for McEnroe's job
before a single shot was even struck in Bratislava. With his team's fortunes
and perhaps his own future at stake, McEnroe called on Fish and the fluid Florid
dian responded with the most rewarding victory of his career to that point.
That victory helped vault the United States into the 2004 World Group where a
talented cast of young players that includes top-ranked Andy Roddick, Fish,
Taylor Dent, James Blake and Robby Ginepri makes the U.S. a legitimate Cup cont
ender.
A strong serve, bold backhand and creative net game are Fish's strengths and fo
rm the foundation for what may be the most complete game of all the young Americ
cans. The camaraderie that connects the current corps of rising young Americans
isn't confined to the court and Fish is clearly appreciative of the influence
his friends have had on his growth, both professionally and personally.
Born in Edina, Minnesota, Fish moved to Vero Beach, Florida at the age of four.
His father, Tom, is a tennis teaching pro who immediately recognized his son's
natural gift for the game and encouraged him to pursue a professional career. As
a junior in high school, Fish moved in with Roddick where the pair spent a year
pushing each other in spirited training sessions both on and off the court. The
friends renewed their rivalry in front of their family and friends in Delray B
each this year and Fish prevailed when Roddick was forced to retire with a twis
ted ankle while trailing 6-7(4), 3-4.
Four months later, the former housemates met again in the Cincinnati final and
turned center court into a scene reminiscent of their exciting backyard battles
from their junior days. In playing dynamic all-court tennis, Fish did not drop
serve in the match, stretching his streak of service holds to 74 games, but wit
hout the benefit of a servie break, Roddick registered a 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 triumph
in what was one of the highest-quality finals of the year.
In an interview with Tennis Week conducted in Manhattan last week, Fish looked
back on the best season of his brief career.
Clad in a blue baseball cap pulled down low on his forehead, a rumpled blue lon
g-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of well-worn jeans, Fish's face bears a slight trac
e of a five o'clock shadow arriving early for this 12:30 lunch interview. Fish
looks like a college student whose been up late cramming for a mid-term and has
dropped sleep as a required course on his curriculum.
That description is probably only partly true: Fish confides he was up most of
the night after a festive evening out with friends. An avid country music fan,
Fish attended an Alan Jackson concert in Florida before rising early to catch
a flight from his Saddlebrook home to Manhattan's LaGuardia Airport. He arrived
at his favorite restaurant, Les Halles, located at 29th Street at Park Avenue
South, directly from the airport. Les Halles owner Philippe Lajaunie is a huge
tennis fan and has forged a friendship with Fish, whose familiarity with the
French Bistro is immediately apparent: he doesn't even need to glance at the me
nu before ordering steak.
Fish, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on December 9th, has been an active part
icipant in charitable causes since turning pro. He came to New York to serve as
event chairman for the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation at a the Gra
nd Central Oyster Bar in New York City. Kimerling, an Emmy Award winning anchor
of WB/11 Sports and pre-game announcer for the New York Mets, died of testicular
cancer September 9th, 2003.
As Fish takes a trip to the bathroom a friend confides Fish is so well-mannere
d, he actually phoned the friend who got him tickets for the concert on his cel
l phone during the show to express his thanks before passing the phone around
and asking each of them to offer their own thank you.
The affable Fish may look like a typical college student, but speaks with the
clarity, confidence and intelligence of a young man whose growing experience in
a global game has given him a sense of perspective that exceeds his age.
In conversation, Fish displays both common sense and a subtle sense of humor an
engaging combination that makes him seem like the kind of guy who would be equal
lly at home downing drinks at sports bar or voicing his views in a board room
meeting.
Asked at the end of the interview if there was any tennis-related topic he want
ed to address that we hadn't covered, a smiling Fish leaned forward toward the
tape recorder in front of him as if it were an appealing appetizer and said "Sa
ddlebrook resort, Saddlebrook resort?it's a great place to live and train and I
love it there. James (Blake) loves it there, Robby (Ginepri) is moving there.
They have every surface, the best trainer in the world there (Pat Etcheberry).
It's the best facility for tennis players ?it's the most ideal place in the wor
ld to train. We have an awesome solid base there where you can go back there an
d rest and train and get better."
The maturation process and its impact on Fish's progress as a player was theme
throughout the interview.
In the space of a single year, the Saddlebrook, Florida resident has gone from
winning the $50,000 Bronx Challenger on the public park courts of Crotona Park
to capturing his first career ATP Championship at the Stockholm Open in a stron
g performance that saw Fish dismiss a pair of Swedes in succession ?scoring a
6-4, 7-5 victory over former Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist in the sem
ifinals before stopping Robin Soderling, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) in a thrilling final.
It has been a relatively quick climb up the ATP rankings for Fish, who ended th
e 2002 season ranked No. 102 and concluded the current season ranked No. 20.
In registering a 39-25 record and reaching four finals on the season, Fish was
often at his best against the game's best players. He posted 17 victories again
st current or former top 10 players, including impressive wins over Carlos Moya
(who he beat twice in one week during the Australian hard court season), Parado
rn Srichaphan, Richard Krajicek, Marcelo Rios, Sebastien Grosjean, Jonas Bjorkm
an, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Tim Henman, whose serve-and-volley style was both an
influence and inspiration to the teenage Fish.
He was the only player to take a set off Roger Federer at Wimbledon in a four-
set third-round setback during the second-ranked Swiss' dominating display of
grass-court tennis that culminated with Federer capturing the Wimbledon crown.
Like Federer, Fish is capable of playing with the all-court acumen that sets
him apart from other young players who seem to be bound to the baseline under
a self-imposed tennis house arrest that prevents them from coming forward.
His maturation hasn't come without growing pains ?Fish's attacking, all-court
game and the fact that movement may be the one weakness in his otherwise sound
all-around game has made him vulnerable on clay ?he won just four of his 10 cla
y-court matches this season ?but his big Davis Cup win on clay was a sign that
Fish can compete capably on all surfaces.
Early in the season, Fish fell victim to the type of concentration lapses that
can be common in young players, but working with coach Kelly Jones has helped
Fish fine-tune both his forehand and eliminate the cracks in concentration as
he closed out the season with a stirring run that saw him win 14 of his final
20 matches.
Fish made the trip to Houston where he shared conversation with a noted tennis
fan seated next to him ?former President George H. Bush during Roddick's Tennis
Maters Cup match with Rainer Schuettler. Fish surprised his friend by bursting
into the post-match press conference to douse Roddick with a champagne shower
in celebration of his status as tennis' year-end top-ranked player.
Mardy Fish is growing as a person and a player and clearly has the ability to
attain his goal of cracking the top 10 and qualifying for the year-end Tennis
Masters Cup in 2004.
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