In Practice Match, Fish and Federer Begin to Focus - New York Times (blog)
Two questions:
1. Which highly ranked tennis pro will be next on the gluten-free bandwagon? Novak Djokovic started the craze, and then proceeded to beat the pants off of just about everyone. OK, this year he's lost to Roger Federer and to … Mardy Fish. Mardy Fish, he who famously lost a bunch of weight while cutting back on junk food and is now the highest ranked American at the U.S. Open. But Djoko beat Fish in Montreal, after which the American said, "We're getting tired of this." By "we," we assume he means everyone, since Djokovic seems to have Nadal's number and no one expects Federer to pull a repeat of Wimbledon.
2. Which brings me to this: How does Andy Murray make the grade as the fourth of the so-called Big Four, since he has exactly zero (0) grand slam titles to his credit, while the other three have like all of them since Pete Sampras retired?
Right now, Murray seems about on a par with Fish (and, one might think, the formerly indomitable Federer), a solid also-ran to what is may be becoming The Big Two.
I saw Mardy Fish practice against Roger Federer last Wednesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was hardly serious. There were no real serves, at least two badly blown line calls (from my vantage point, anyway), informal score-keeping, plenty of trick shots, plenty of hanging around and chatting, and plenty of balls given up on by both players. But this was not like watching a boxer with a sparring partner; Fish did not defer to Federer, and Federer did not look like he was assuming anything.
It's easy to read too much into this, and I can't claim much – OK, truth be told, any – experience in watching highly ranked pros in practice matches. But like every other tennis fan I've seen a lot of Roger Federer, and he no longer looks like Superman.
Still, though I don't bet (and besides, in order to get my press credentials I had to read a thing by the United States Tennis Association that said they'd be very upset if I did) I would not bet against Federer if he were playing Andy Murray or anyone else at this tournament except for the other big two. Except I might bet against him if he were playing Mardy Fish, who was getting to balls very quickly, and with ease, hitting them well, mixing things up nicely, and volleying. Volleying more than Federer, it seemed.
Fish hasn't had a grueling career, and he looks great. It's true that he lost to Federer last week, but that was the day after he beat Rafael Nadal, which had to feel good. All he needs now is a gluten-free diet.
29 Aug, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFa8yEjbogRJeW_DqNR5RE3Lf-S-A&url=http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/in-practice-match-fish-and-federer-begin-to-focus/
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