The Newport Casino and Tennis Hall Of Fame were host to the only grass court ATP event still held in the USA.

 By defeating Olivier Rochus,  Mardy Fish  proved at Newport, that  he has reinvented himself from a journeyman into a contender by dropping nearly 35 pounds since knee surgery last year.

His skill as a grass court player were evident all week. The big serve, deft volleys, blistering passing shots and speed!  

 Yes I said speed !  

He worked in a knuckle scraping crouch for every point of every match.

The fitness angle here can not be dusted over lightly.

He played fearless tennis in the crunch-- attacking- attacking- attacking.

The crucial moment in the final came at 4 games all in the 3rd set.
  
After two viciously contested points with both players ripping groundies from the back court, Fish had the legs and guts to close to the net on the Rochus second serves eventually pressuring the Belgian into a double fault that Mardy quickly parlayed in to a service break to go up 5-4 in the deciding set.

Fish fought hard to hold serve after being down 0-30 and closed the match out 5-7,6-3, 6-4.

I think Mardy has put in the HARD YARDS over the last year and is now reaping a handsome dividend

If the Knee holds up during the US Open Series  look for him to make some noise in Queens in August!

Howie Burnett

 

I spent last week covering The Campbell's Hall of Fame ATP event last week in Newport RI.

The smaller events(challengers and the 250 tour stops)Give me a chance to get a look at  emerging players from all over the world.

I may have seen the future super star of American tennis last Friday.

I got into town just in time to catch the Mardy Fish press conference after he beat Frank Dancevic.

One of the reporters asked him If he had  ever played Ryan Harrison (a potential opponent in the semis).
Mardy commented  that after having him as a Davis Cup practice squad mate, he was  favorably impressed.

I made a point of hustling out of the press room to catch Harrison playing his quarter final match and I'm glad I did.

This guy is the best-- tennis athlete-- to come out of the USA In my 45 years of observing the sport.

 Hes kind of a Becker-- Edberg  type-- Predatory- With an explosive serve and an extraordinary shot maker.

Raw is my impression, but very talented  and with a fire in the belly.

His inability to control his arousal level hurt him in this tournament (losing to Englands  Richard Bloomfield in the quarters),but with good coaching that will change for the positive as time passes.

Do yourself a favor and catch this kid if hes playing in an event near you this summer.

You'll thank me



                                                                         HOWIE BURNETT

 In my July 15th post I suggested that Mardy Fish has positioned himself to be part of the conversation at this years US Open.

His win at the ATP 250 event in Newport was a great effort, albeit, against a less than stellar field and on grass, truly a specialists surface.

Fish took a well deserved week off ,then packed his bags and showed up as the 6th seed at the new Atlanta US Open Series event.

Well not only has he proved himself part of the conversation but the conversation piece!

Atlanta is only an ATP 250 but featured Andy Roddick and John Isner as its top two seeds.

Mardy took them both out on his way to his second tour title in a row,defeating 1st seed Roddick in a come from behind 3 setter in the semis Saturday evening, then turning right around and grinding down the 2nd seed Isner in a brutal (95 degrees with oppressive humidity) Sunday afternoon final 4-6,6-4,7-6  to walk away with the winners check.

I'm not sure how much he'll have left for LA this week (I'm thinking either take an injury week off or play one and go home) but keep an eye on  him--- he seems to have an icy resolve and the drive to show us just how good he can really be!

 If you ever watched Andy Murrays' on court antics when Brad Gilbert coached him, it astounds me that anyone would want to bother trying to coach him.

His mother(his first coach) Is at every match he plays--- Who's pulling the strings Mommy -Miles- Alex??

Somebody needs to get him to play more tactically logical tennis than the artistic brand he prefers to flaunt now!

The problem is he gets away with it enough to make him believe his ideas are right.

Its called intermittent reinforcement--A psychological trap that many very talented athletes fall into.

Talent-Conditioning-Technique and  the application of Tactical Logic is what separates the greats from the pretty goods.

He's a coaches nightmare--Unlimited potential paralyzed by unlimited natural talent!
 
                                        
                                                                            Just my opinion,Howie Burnett