By Erik Gudris | Thursday, July 30, 2015
Andy Roddick, playing with Mardy Fish in doubles, earned his first tour victory in Atlanta since retiring three years ago.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox
Three years after retiring from pro tennis, Andy Roddick enjoyed winning again at the BB&T Atlanta Open on Wednesday night.
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Roddick came out of retirement for only a week to play doubles with his longtime friend Mardy Fish in Atlanta. Fish himself announced earlier that he would retire from pro tennis after the end of this year's US Open.
"If I can be a small part of it, helping him this week, I am happy to do it. We have a very long history," Roddick said earlier about partnering with Fish this week for the first time since Basel in 2011.
Roddick's decision to make his brief return in Atlanta made perfect sense since he won his first and last career singles titles in the city. Fish himself is a two-time winner of the event.
In front of a sell-out crowd, the all-American pair faced off against Jonathan Marray and Yen-Hsun Lu. While Lu is currently ranked No. 78 in singles, Marray is best known for winning the men's doubles title at Wimbledon back in 2012 with Frederik Nielsen.
The opening game featured vintage Roddick, at least with his sharp tonged personality. After being called for a foot fault during his service game, Roddick told a linesperson, "I don't miss you. Not for one second."
Roddick and Fish kept things close with their opponents throughout the opening set with strong serves and fine play up at net. Soon enough a tiebreak was needed to decide things. After trading early mini-breaks, Fish struck a shot that ended up as a let-cord winner giving his team a 4-3 lead.
A Marray double fault extended Roddick and Fish's lead to 5-2. With a pair of strong serves from Roddick, the Americans took the first set 7-6(2).
Roddick took control early in the second set as he hit a forehand Lu couldn't handle up at net. That would give Fish and Roddick an early break lead to start the second set. Roddick, looking more comfortable with his serve, began to find the pace that made him famous.
The US Open champion struck a 129 MPH ace en route to putting his team a game away from the win at 5-3.
Soon, it was Fish who served for the win at 5-4. With several well-placed serves, Fish eventually closed out the 7-6(2), 6-4 win to the delight of the Atlanta crowd.
"He hasn't won in three years so it was nice to give him a win," Fish said right after about Roddick.
Roddick acknowledged the local crowd by saying, "Thank you for making this moment special for us. I had a blast out there. I was really excited. We won the first point in the last game and I was a little too pumped and Mardy was like 'God calm down.'"
Roddick later said, "When you don't play for that long, you don't know what to expect. I had a blast and I really wanted to win that."
Fish and Roddick, who hold two career doubles titles including an ATP 1000 title in Indian Wells, now find themselves in the quarterfinals. They will next face the No. 3 seeds Eric Butorac and Artem Sitak.