By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, August 17, 2015
Wild card Mardy Fish swept No. 20 Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-2, in Cincinnati to earn his first win since 2013—and set up a rematch with Montreal champion Andy Murray.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
Parting can be painful, but Mardy Fish is creating a festive farewell in Cincinnati.
The 33-year-old American swept world No. 20 Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-2, at the Western & Southern Open today.
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It was Fish's first win since he defeated Evgeny Donskoy in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open in August, 2013. Fish, who will retire from the pro circuit following his U.S. Open farewell later this month, surprised himself.
"Maybe I still got a little life left in me to chalk that up. I don't know," Fish said. "I played really well. I had played him one time before and had success. He's had some success, but it was on grass. I hadn't been following the Tour that much, so I was sort of looking at what his results were to get to 19 or 20 in the world. He hadn't won a match on hard courts this year, at least in the summer...So I had that in the back of my mind."
The two-time Cincinnati finalist took the court with one simple goal: "I don't want to embarrass myself out there."
Instead of embarrassment, Fish found exhilaration. He saved all three break points he faced, hit the ball cleanly and served with authority in a tidy and joyful 68-minute win.
"I was a little surprised at my level," Fish said afterward. "Like I said out there, I hadn't practiced a ton or particularly well for a little while. I was struggling with my serve. A friend of mine came in a couple days and helped. But it was still sort of a struggle even yesterday to sort of find my serve and stuff. I was obviously real happy with the level."
Fish cracked the Top 10 for the first time on April 18, 2011, the same season he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and three consecutive finals during the North American summer hard court season.
In the four years since he has battled physical and mental issues. Fish was diagnosed with a heart ailment and underwent cardiac catheter ablation procedure on May 23, 2012. He suffered from anxiety linked to his heart issues, weight loss, bouts of depression. Fish went into a spiral culminating with his withdrawal from a scheduled fourth-round match against Roger Federer at the 2012 U.S. Open.
Discussing his own mental health issues openly—including conversations with fellow pros—has been therapeutic. Fish said feedback from fans, including one young fan in the crowd today, has provided positive reinforcement.
"I just heard from a kid when Iwas walking off the court. (He said:) 'Thank you for what yo udo with mental illness,' " Fisah said. "Couldn't have been more than 12, 14 years old. Yeah, that makes me feel good. I wouldn't call it necessarily my mission. I hope to help really bring awareness to show that there can be a role model that can be positive and can shed some light on it and that whole thing."
The victory vaults Fish into a second-round match with a familiar face— world No. 2 Andy Murray—in the second round. Murray snapped an eight-match losing streak to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to capture his second straight Masters title in Montreal yesterday, extending his Masters winning streak to 11 matches.
Fish and Murray have split eight career meetings with the American winning their 2010 Cincinnati quarterfinals and Murray responding with a victory in the 2011 Cincinnati semifinals. Asked his thoughts on facing Murray, Fish's reply prompted laughter among the media.
"No good thoughts," Fish joked. "No, look, of the top guys, of the guys that have been dominate in my era, he's the guy I've had the most success with. I believe it's 4-4. So I would've liked to have had that 4-4 and just coasted off, but he might get me one more time. You never know. I certainly played well today. He's pretty fantastic so far. He's won a ton of matches."
Fish didn't have too much time to worry about Murray. He returned to the court to play doubles with Tomas Berdych.