Fish Out of Olympics and Uncertain When He'll Return

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: Ted LePak

Mardy Fish - 2012 US Men's Clay Court Championships

(April 25, 2012) -- Though he's taking some time off from tennis, Mardy Fish continues to make news that could have an impact on the men's game well into the summer.

At yesterday's press event for the new Citi Open event to be held in Washington D.C., tournament director Donald Dell announced that Fish would indeed be part of the men's draw. Since the Citi Open takes place at the same time as the Summer Games in London, it added to speculation that Fish would not compete at the Olympics.

In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Fish confirmed he indeed would not participate in London this year, citing one reason his having already won a silver medal in Athens back in 2004. But the bigger issue for Fish continues to be his ongoing health issues, including fatigue, something that he took care to have examined after his straight sets loss to Juan Monaco in Miami last month.

"I'm doing OK. We're doing lots of tests to try to figure out what's going on and what went wrong," Fish told the AP. "It's sort of unclear as to how or why it happened yet, but we're trying to figure it out. It's not something I'm super comfortable talking about. It certainly was a scare."

Fish is unclear as to when he will return to action. Though he is scheduled to appear in Madrid and Rome next month, Fish is uncertain if he will make it to either of those events or even the French Open.

"I'm not 100 percent sure whether I'll be back for that," Fish admitted, "but that's the goal."

Fish who rose to a career high No. 7 last year and competed in the year-end championships for the first time is currently ranked No. 9 in the world and is back to being the U.S. No.1 after John Isner briefly took over that position two weeks ago.