US Open: Mardy Fish continues comeback story as top American seed - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com
NEW YORK — It would be easy to call Mardy Fish a reclamation project or a comeback story. It's an easy narrative to draw when you've made your way back from knee surgery to become the top-ranked American male at the U.S. Open.
Except in this case, it would be a misnomer.
Fish has come back from knee surgery, while going through a major change of his physique, to become the top American hope here. But in this case, he is not returning to a ranking he held nor reclaiming something lost.
Before his rise to the No. 8 seed at the Open, Fish was a scarcely known player on the ATP tour. His highest year-end rank was No. 20 in 2003. In 2005, he dropped to No. 118 before rising back to No. 23 by the end of 2008.
A reporter reminded Fish that he once became upset when he was classified as a journeyman several years ago, perhaps because it hit too close to home.
Fish did not take umbrage at that classification today.
"Sometimes I feel like it's a great experience for me to be in this position," Fish said, after defeating Germany's Tobias Kamke, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. "I'm having a ton of fun with it. But sometimes I feel like I'm playing with house money a little bit just because I just would never have imagined two years ago, 2009, not even having to come back here, you know, to be in this position. So it's great. It's just great."
Fish can say this with a soft-spoken humility because two years ago he was at a crossroads that journeyman don't often return from, let alone triumph through. He was overweight and had just undergone knee surgery. After a career-best run to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open in 2008, he was unable to build on that in 2009.
So he went to work, changing his diet, determined to get into better shape. He lost 30 pounds and says that difference between then and now is drastic.
The sculptural changes coincided with a climb up the tennis hierarchy, an inverted correlation between weight and rank.
Sunday night, he passed up a restaurant-run for a healthy meal of chicken breast, rice and asparagus.
This afternoon, he played in the first match on Arthur Ashe Court, an honor reserved for the top American and one that schedule makers created by canceling a match.
Yet with his success, there are new pressures. As Andy Roddick, the No. 21 seed here, a tumbled and not a single American rose along with him, Fish has etched his name somewhere on the marquee.
Now, at 29 years old, he faces the weight of being the top American at the only Grand Slam on U.S. soil.
Fish had his greatest success on the hard courts. He won the U.S. Open Series title this year, and was presented with the trophy after his opening match here. If he wins the Open he'll earn an extra $1 million.
"I think it's probably pretty easy to say this is one of the biggest tournaments I've ever played, you know, just coming in where I've come into it," Fish said. "I've never come into a Grand Slam ranked higher. I think I was (No.) 9 at the French and Wimbledon, so, you know, this is the best position I've ever come in. This is the biggest tournament in that regard.
"I think it's fair to say, I know that for a fact. It's not adding pressure or anything like that. It's just this was always gonna be a big tournament for me. I think it's fair to say it's probably the biggest tournament I've ever played to this point, for sure."
Mike Vorkunov: mvorkunov@starledger.com
30 Aug, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHnA9d6ya34SnBUvj6B75gHE7nNzQ&url=http://www.nj.com/tennis/index.ssf/2011/08/us_open_mardy_fish_continues_c.html
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