Fish et Ferrero au tapis

Mardy Fish et Juan Carlos Ferrero ont été éliminés au premier tour du Masters 1000 de Madrid.

Tête de série numéro 11, Mardy Fish a été victime de son compatriote John Isner (13 aces) après quasiment trois heures de combat (7/6 4/6 7/6). Détenteur d’une wild-card, Juan Carlos Ferrero a été sorti par le Néerlandais Thiemo De Bakker (2/6 7/5 6/4).

www.sport24.com

Rome (ATP): Fish se défait de Giraldo

09/05/2011 - 18:31

Battu dès son entrée en lice à Madrid, par son compatriote John Isner, Mardy Fish s'en cette fois-ci sorti contre un tout autre type de joueur, Santiago Giraldo, au 1e tour du Masters 1000 de Rome. Vainqueur en trois manches (4-6, 6-2, 6-2), la tête de série n°11 affrontera Ljubicic ou Cipolla au 2e tour.

www.sports.fr

Fish continue

Le 23/05/2011 à 17:04 | Mis à jour le 23/05/2011 à 17:07

Malgré un deuxième set concédé au tie-break, Mardy Fish, tête de série numéro 10, sort vainqueur de son duel contre Ricardo Mello (89e joueur mondial) au premier tour (6-2, 6-7 [5], 6-2, 6-4).

www.lequipe.fr

Roland Garros 2011
1st round Fish vs Mello
Post match interview
(crédits: rolandgarros.com)

http://www.rolandgarros.com/fr_FR/multimedia/2011-05-23/01301daacd98000000af.html

Roland Garros 2011
2nd round Fish vs Haase
Post match interview
(crédits: rolandgarros.com)

http://www.rolandgarros.com/fr_FR/multimedia/2011-05-26/01302cf431b800000129.html

Wimbledon 2011: Fish au deuxième tour

Lundi 20 Juin 2011, 15:37

Mardy Fish sera bien au rendez-vous du deuxième tour à Londres où il a dû batailler, il y a quelques instants, pour franchir le premier tour. L'Américain, tête de série n°10, a disposé sur le score de 7/6, 7/6, 6/4 de l'Espagnol Marcel Granollers sur les courts de All England Club. Au tour suivant, Fish se confrontera au vainqueur de la partie entre Philipp Kohlschreiber et Denis Istomin.

www.TennisTemple.com

Wimbledon Fish poursuit l'aventure

Créé le 20/06/2011 - 15:37

Mardy Fish a battu lundi l'Espagnol Marcel Granollers en trois manches (7-6, 7-6, 6-4). Le n°1 américain, membre du Top 10 mondial, sera opposé au deuxième tour des Internationaux de Grande-Bretagne à Denis Istomin, tombeur surprise de Philipp Kohlschreiber.

www.sports.fr

M. Fish - first round
Mardy Fish defeated Marcel Granollers 7-6. 7-6, 6-4

Monday, 20 June 2011

Q. Do you feel any more pressure representing and playing for U.S. men, you and Andy, considering the dearth of individuals at the top?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure. You know, I mean, I'm ranked the No. 1 American. So, yeah, with it comes, you know, a little bit more pressure. And I feel it for sure. But, you know, it's where you want to be. So it's a good thing.


Q. Do you have any thoughts as to sort of why the drop off behind you guys at this point? We've been asking this question and talking about this for about a year now.
MARDY FISH: I mean, I think it's just because we're not you know, we're not competing for slams on a slam by slam basis. I think that's one of the main reasons why we get the questions. I mean, we have as many guys in the top 10 right now than any other country. You know, Spain has two, we have two, and no one else has two. So, you know, I think it's just for lack of the big events. I mean, we've all done well at Indian Wells and Miami and things like that, which are big events for us. But, you know, this is obviously another step above those.


Q. You've been coming here for a number of years now. Your game should fit into the grass. You've had some good grass court results. Can you talk about the evolution of your game on grass and what your expectations are this year?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, I feel most comfortable with my style of play on this surface, you know, and it takes some getting used to. I certainly wasn't as clean as I hope to be in the next round or rounds, as I keep going hopefully.

But, yeah, I mean, this is my best surface. I won more grass court matches than anyone else did last year. I played three events. At Wimbledon I didn't do well. I made the final of Queen's and I won Newport.
So I obviously feel pretty comfortable on this surface. This is certainly the tournament that, you know, I look at sort of my résumé of making, you know, quarterfinals in the other Grand Slams, Australia and the US Open, and this is the one that always jumps out at me to want to do well at.


Q. What makes grass your best surface? Why does your game fit it well?
MARDY FISH: Well, I feel comfortable coming to the net. I feel comfortable coming forward. They're doing a really good job of making it tough to do that, as well. You know, the balls are extremely heavy. When the sun's not out, it's very hard to really get the ball through the court, you know, minus the serve. You feel like it is still grass, obviously, so the serve still takes, the slice still takes, still moves pretty good. But it's as the balls are as heavy as any ball out there. I feel a lot more comfortable serving, if you take away the grass, a lot more comfortable serving at the French Open with those balls.


Q. Can you explain what 'heavy' means to you?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, balls get real big real quick. You know, you can't really feel your shots as good as you can as, you know, like the US Open, with those balls there. And they just get tough to hit the ball through the court. It's tough to hit winners from the baseline. Like I said, the serve still moves and still takes and you can serve well and hold serve because it's grass. It's still grass. But, uhm, you know, the grass is so good and the bounces are so pure that, you know, the balls, they're really, really heavy.


Q. Is that frustrating for a guy who likes grass?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure, it's frustrating. I serve and volleyed on I think almost every first serve today. But I served well and had a lot of free points on my serve, so I didn't necessarily get into a ton of rallies, have to get into a ton of rallies on my serve games. It's tough to hit the ball through the court with the forehand. You know, you got to try to generate a lot of pace, and it's hard.


Q. Do you understand why there seems to be this desire by officialdom to homogenize all the surfaces?
MARDY FISH: Not necessarily here. It's such a unique tournament, you know. It's such a unique surface. There's not a ton of tournaments you can play on grass. We can kind of get around the clay, play a couple clay court events. If you want to, you could play half a year on clay. You can't do that here. So obviously it's such a unique surface and unique event, so...


Q. I guess you consider, of the slams where you should be doing well, you consider this the one where you've underachieved the most?
MARDY FISH: Without a doubt, yes.


Q. Why is that? Is it a conditioning thing?
MARDY FISH: No, it's not a conditioning thing here. Conditioning doesn't play a huge part. Mentally I haven't nearly been as strong. I've had some bad luck.
I remember in the third round in, I think it was 2006, might have been 2007, I had to pull out of a match in the third round against a qualifier, because I was as sick as I've ever been in my life. I had to play Nadal in the first round one year. I had to play Gasquet in the first round one year when he had made the semis here year before. Obviously really good players. I've had a little bit of bad luck, and I'm ready.


Q. Istomin, your next opponent?
MARDY FISH: Yeah. I never played him. Sam has played him. Obviously sharing a coach with Sam, Nainks has seen him play I think four times in the last year, has played Sam, so we'll get a good plan.


Q. What was your reaction when you heard who Isner will be playing here? And what are your thoughts about last year and this year?
MARDY FISH: Pretty shocking, obviously. And let's hope that it doesn't happen again for their sake, because you want them to do well. I want John to do well. First and foremost, he's a tough opponent. He's a really good grass courter. Let's hope it's not a perfect storm again.


Q. What do you remember most about last year's match between them?
MARDY FISH: Just sort of it being surreal. It just kind of you just couldn't really believe what was unfolding. You knew going through, you know, when it was kind of in the 30s and 40s that it was never going to happen again; you were never going to see that again.
Yeah, so just pretty surreal. You know, you'd almost capture the moment, and I think it's a cool plaque that they have out there on Court 18.
Is the schedule out? Do they know when they're playing or where they're playing? Haven't seen it.


Q. You're not a short guy, but when you walk around the locker room these days, do you feel like the height of the players...
MARDY FISH: There's a lot of tall guys, a lot of big guys. You know, serving is a big part of today, because if you can get some free points, you know, the way they've slowed the surfaces down, it's big.


Q. Do you have to be like 6'4" to get those free points these days?
MARDY FISH: It certainly helps. You know, I mean, there's not a lot of guys in the top 10 that aren't at least six feet tall maybe besides Ferrer. Is he 6 feet tall? I mean, he's not 5'3", you know. I mean, he's the only guy that jumps out at you that doesn't require a ton of free points.


Q. Has Andy given you any c**p about out ranking him or anything?
MARDY FISH: C**p? No. I mean, he wants it back. I'm going to try to hold him off as long as I can (smiling).


Q. How strong would you say the top four seeds are here right now, given the surface, and how each one of those guys are playing?
MARDY FISH: Very strong. As far back as I can remember, it's as top heavy as you've ever seen. I mean, those guys have all the points. You know, if you look back maybe five or ten years, I think I have like around 2400 ATP points, and I don't think that would put me in the top 10. So those guys are doing well on every surface. It's not a fluke, you know, that you see the top four seeds almost every event in the semifinals, it doesn't matter where it is. Murray, any one of those guys could win the tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if any one of those guys did.


Q. How intimidating is that to everybody who is in the next group?
MARDY FISH: Well, I mean, you got to go about your business. You got to hopefully not face 'em early. And, you know, once you get there, I mean, you know, certain guys feel like they can beat 'em. You know, personally I feel like I can, especially on this surface. Murray's obviously a really tough out here just because this is one of his best surfaces and it's home. Roger's Roger and Rafa's Rafa. Djokovic is playing as well as you've ever seen anyone, as I've ever seen anyone play across the net, for sure.


Q. You talked about the serve. If you look at the top four guys, Roger can serve, Murray can hit the big one. Isn't it more of a return in baseline games outside of mental that is their strengths all around?
MARDY FISH: Their strengths, yeah. Djokovic and Murray return as well as anyone just from a serving point of view. You know, when they're across the net from me, I mean, they're the scariest ones to me. I haven't played Nadal in a little while, so, you know, I can't necessarily speak from experience with that. I haven't played him since, you know, maybe '08, quarters of the Open. Those guys I played recently, they're the ones that strike the most fear returning wise.


Q. You spoke earlier about the dearth of players or the perceived dearth of top American men players to follow you guys. When the Williams sisters are not around, as they weren't the last year or so for the most part on the women's side, how different do you perceive the women's tour without the Williams sisters?
MARDY FISH: I mean, it's always wide open, it seems like. You know, it's great to have them back because, you know, just missing them at the French Open, besides Sam, I was the only seeded player. We missed Andy obviously there, too. You know, they're always missed. I mean, they're such big personalities, you know, you can tell when they're there and you can tell when they're not there. You know, so with the exception of Bethanie, I mean, I feel like we're kind of struggling on that side, you know, minus them. And when they're not there, you can really feel it.

Q. Did you see Venus' outfit today?
MARDY FISH: I didn't. I didn't see it. I was playing.

Source

Wimbledon 2011
1st round Fish vs Granollers
Post Match Interview
(crédits: wimbledon.com)

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/interactive/video/index.html?vf=http://media.wimbledon.org/2011/web/day01_fish_interview_512x288_800.mp4&cat=

Wimbledon 2011: Fish au troisième tour

Mercredi 22 Juin 2011, 18:51

Mardy Fish s'est adjugé, il y a quelques instants, son ticket pour le troisième tour de Wimbledon 2011. L'Américain, tête de série n°10, a pour cela dominé l'Ouzbek Denis Istomin sur le score de 7/6, 6/4, 6/4. Au prochain tour, Fish se confrontera au gagnant de la rencontre entre Robin Haase et Fernando Verdasco.

www.TennisTemple.com

Fish dompte Berdych

27/06 20h08

Mardy Fish s'est qualifié pour les quarts de finale en dominant Tomas Berdych (7/6 6/4 6/4). L'Américain pourrait retrouvera Rafael Nadal au prochain tour.

Finaliste l'an dernier, Tomas Berdych ne renouvellera pas son exploit cette année. Le Tchèque s'est incliné devant Mardy Fish (7/6 6/4 6/4) et pourrait retrouver Rafael Nadal, qui affronte actuellement Del Potro, en quart de finale.

www.sport24.com

M. Fish - fourth round

M. Fish bt T. Berdych 7-6, 6-4, 6-4

Monday, 27 June 2011

Q. How does it feel to be the last American standing?

MARDY FISH: Last last. Again, I mean, it's not what you set out to do, you know. It was I guess bad luck for the Williams sisters to lose. Unfortunate, I guess. They'll be back, I'm sure.

Q. What are your thoughts on being this far along in the tournament right now and what is your level of excitement about it?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it feels great. I mean, this is obviously a huge tournament for me. Suits my game probably better than any other tournament for me Grand Slam wise.

You know, so I felt like maybe it's one of those ones that I really wanted to do well at. You know in the quarterfinals. Feels great again. I'll have another tough one, for sure.

Q. You look at your results on grass recently and how you feel about it, do you think, Why did it take me this long?

MARDY FISH: I've had good success on grass in my career, but just never here. And I've had success in a lot of tournaments, but not really in slams. I think the three out of five thing has a lot to do with it.

I think, you know, the big guys are tough outs in three out of five. Two out of three I've beaten a lot of guys, but not three out of five. That's maybe my first top 10 win in a Grand Slam. They're hard to come by.

Q. You seem real measured, almost mellow. Do you feel like screaming like crazy inside?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, maybe it hasn't sunk in yet. I don't know. This is, you know, the one that you look forward to, this and the US Open, every year to do well at.

You know, it's different. This is much different than '08 US Open for me. I feel a lot different. I feel like a completely different player. So I'm hoping it doesn't end.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, you've only been broken once in your serve in four rounds. Did you see that coming?

MARDY FISH: I mean, look, I've gone through some runs in my career where I've served well. I think at one point I broke a record, Pete's record, that was broken numerous times by Roddick and then Federer, I think multiple people.

But I think it was maybe 90 something in a row I'll have to ask Sharko through Cincinnati and through the US Open. So I've had success on my serve, gone through matches without losing serve. This is probably one of the best serving days I've had.

I also served really well in the first round. I didn't have a breakpoint against me in the first round as well.

Q. Against him though today I guess returning somewhat important.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure. I mean, he's coming from another angle. I mean, he's a big guy. Tosses the ball real high. He gets up there high. I mean, when he hits his spots you don't know where he's going. You know, you're sort of guessing. Sort of have a small inclination where he wants to go on the big points. He likes the slider, this and that.

He hit the T serve as well on the deuce side. You know, sort of one of those things where you just try to take your opportunities when they come. I think for the most part he gave me that last break with the forehand volley thing that he tried. He would probably like to have that one back. Took advantage of most of my opportunities.

Q. How does it feel to be the Lone Ranger?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it's not what you set out to do. You know, being the highest ranked American, I guess on both sides now, comes a pretty high responsibility. You know, as I said before, people are watching. You feel like people are watching more than before, especially with me.

Q. Not to get personal, but John McEnroe said that somehow Andy's marriage might be a distraction or detrimental. In the past you said your relationship and marriage has been a real help. Can you just talk about that as a factor in your career.

MARDY FISH: It's given me a whole 'nother lease on life, period. I mean, that's one of the reasons why you play. That's one of the reasons why Andy's still playing. I think it's completely unwarranted. It's not a great comment to talk about wives. You should probably stay away from the wives.

I mean, you know, I love Brooklyn. I love them to death, so I'll stick up for them, especially when it comes from a place, you know, that might not know the ins and outs of their relationship.

I know them as well as I know anybody, so, you know, that's tough to take, I guess.

Q. Some guys are good at playing someone for the first time. Do you feel like you're a good first meeting player or not in your career?

MARDY FISH: Maybe, yeah. I don't know. That would be interesting. That would be another question for Sharko.

But, you know, we've practiced a lot. I've never played him, obviously. He takes some cuts at the ball, boy. He was playing at a real high level for the first set. You know, you're trying to feel each other out a little bit probably, having never played.

You know, he likes to see the ball and hit it hard. I don't think I was prepared as well for that type of style. You know, I mean, I thought maybe you can get in a couple rallies and things like that.

But it played quick. The humidity made it play pretty quick. Definitely the fastest conditions we've had here.

Q. Looking forward, what would be the best conditions for you come Wednesday?

MARDY FISH: Hot. Yeah, hot. Hot, quick, humid. I think it's going to turn again.

But if it's slow and cold, I got a lot of aches and pains sometimes, too, that don't warm up as good. And I felt good today. I feel great now physically and mentally, so it feels good.

Q. In 2003 you were the only one who took a set off of Federer when he won the tournament. Many years have been passed.

MARDY FISH: That's an archive there.

Q. Do you still remember that?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, 2003, Centre Court, third set, 6 4. I remember. 6 3 maybe.

Q. As someone who follows the Lakers and NBA, is it sort of odd to see Sasha standing around as part of an entourage here?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it's a little different. One of the nicest guys I've ever come across. Actually had a text from him just now that said, Good job.

I was going to go on the Friday before I was going to play an exhibition and it ended up raining. I was going to go watch him practice because he practices here almost every day. I was going to go with him and show him my shot (smiling).

Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to have him around. Especially such a good guy.

Q. He seems to be a magnet. People from all countries are coming up and slapping his back and talking to him. Is that what you're talking about?

MARDY FISH: He's extremely friendly, yeah. You know, and athletes look up to other athletes. He plays in the NBA, you know. I've seen him play for the Lakers a ton, so, you know, obviously you know who he is.

You hope that all those guys that you watch and know, you know, you hope they're good guys. Turns out he is.

Q. When you were Roddick's teammate in high school, what kind of game did you bring on the court?

MARDY FISH: I was like a two guard. I kind of stayed behind of three point line. Didn't do much of anything. Didn't really make any spots. Didn't play that good at defense. No, I wasn't very good.

Andy was like the motor. He'd defend, rebound. We'd pay him not to shoot, so...

Q. Did you hear from Andy or any of the other guys before your match?

MARDY FISH: Yeah. I mean, these guys are my best friends, some of my best friends in the world. You know, you develop relationships out here. I've been out here for a long time. Isner, James, Sam, Andy, Robbie who is coming back now.

Q. You heard from all those guys?

MARDY FISH: Yeah. These guys are some of my best friends. If I'm not hearing from them, I'm not hearing from anybody.

Q. Sounds like Rafa is not too interested in visiting Austin, Texas.

MARDY FISH: This guy has a pretty hectic schedule. I'm not sure how I would feel if I won the French Open, had hopes of winning Wimbledon, could easily do both, and then have to go travel across the world to play on a completely different surface and then come back again. You know, where are your breaks?

It's not surprising. I like Rafa a lot. I respect the heck out of him. So I'm sure his decisions are pretty good.

Q. Do you think it's a tough decision for him, because he comes from a country where tennis matters a lot and they're used to him playing?

MARDY FISH: I think he's smart enough to realize what goes into preDavis Cups and things like that. You sell tickets with people's names on it. I think he knows that. I think he knows the in and outs of the tournaments and of Davis Cups and how big his name is and how much he can pull.

I'm sure, of course, he wants to be there. Of course.

Q. If Rafa does come through, how do you get in a mindset against a guy you've never beaten on a really big stage?

MARDY FISH: That's a good question. You know, you can't go out there thinking you can't win. That's one. We know that.

But I've never been past this spot in a Grand Slam. Past this spot is where I want to be, where you set your goals for. So game plan wise we'll come up with something. A lot of it's mental. I mean, these guys, you know, he's got ten Grand Slams pretty recently.

So half the battle is walking out there believing you can win, and I'll definitely do that.

Q. Most people like him. He's considered to be a good guy. Ten slams and all that. But there is criticism that he tends to take too much time on court. Talk about your feelings with that.

MARDY FISH: I take a lot of time, as well. I think, you know, you get in a rhythm and you want to be as comfortable as you can on the court. There are certainly guys you play that you know are fast players.

Andy is one of them that plays extremely fast. Doesn't even wait till the changeover. I'm more of Rafa's side a little bit in that I like to take my time. I like to think about everything.

You know, then you have the superstitions, where you put the water bottles, where you get the balls back on the changeovers, and things like that.

Q. You've been to this stage before in a slam, but not here. Have you learned anything from past experiences that might help you this week, do you think?

MARDY FISH: I hope so. Certainly, like I said before, I certainly feel not really unbelievably happy to be here. I feel like it's not a complete upset that I'm in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam at least inside from my point of view. That's all that really matters, I guess.

So it feels a lot different. You know, we'll come up with a game plan and we'll go into the match on Wednesday thinking I can make the semifinals of Wimbledon.

Q. Talk about when you're playing later in the day and everywhere you look upsets seem to be brewing, many of which come to pass. How aware are you of that? What does that do for you as you're waiting?

MARDY FISH: Not too aware. You know, you're kind of watching matches. You know, we watched the López/Kubot match a little bit. I saw that López ended up winning, which is surprising. Warming up at 12:30 and not going on till 5:00, that's the hard part. You want to play so bad.

You're not too aware of what the people are talking about on the grounds. You don't really have much idea of that.

Q. You spoke briefly about the mental challenge in facing Nadal. From a strictly tactical and style point of view, what to you is the biggest challenge for your game against his? He just won the third set.

MARDY FISH: Well, I think it's not having him take you out of your style of play. I know my style can be successful on these courts. One of the things that these guys get you to do and Berdych is the same way is it kind of gets you out of exactly how you want to play.

You know, sometimes Rafa can play defense very well, and so you don't attack as much as you probably should. Or, you know, Andy Murray or Djokovic move so well or return so well that you over serve, things like that. You want to, I guess, try to stay within yourself.

I'll go into the match knowing my limitations but trying to play as good as I can, 'cause I'll certainly need to


Source

M. Fish - quarter-final

M. Fish def. by R. Nadal 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Q. If you'd started like you began playing in the third set, do you think you'd have beaten him?

MARDY FISH: Uhm, I don't know about that, but I certainly played much better. There's not many things I would have done differently. I would have liked to have served even remotely as good as I have, you know, the full tournament.

I mean, you get out there I've never played on that court before and I never played on Chatrier in Paris and it takes some time to get used to those players. Even though there's no wind outside there's just a little bit of breeze there, so it takes some time to get used to.

I feel like I started hitting the ball really well, you know, in the third set and got my teeth into the match a little bit. You know, all of a sudden the shadows are right there in that game that I lost serve. Just completely lost the ball when I missed the volley to get broken.

Little bit of misfortune, I guess.

Q. What was going on with the serve? First serve was around 50%.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, I've served exceptionally well here this week in all four matches before this one. Maybe it's just the surroundings. I think a lot of it has to do with the opponent, you know, the person that you're playing against. You know you got to make it that much better when maybe that's not the case.

You know, you got to still stay within yourself. I think I over served at times, trying to go too hard, too quick. I mean, I'm aware of it. I know what I do wrong and try to correct it. Just never got a rhythm at all.

You know, that's really the only thing that I'm disappointed with, is I felt like I competed well. I'm pretty sure he felt like he played pretty well, too. So, you know, it's not a bad loss by any means. But, you know, I'm not in this situation all the time. You know, further than the quarterfinals is where I wanted to go.

Q. What do you take away from this?

MARDY FISH: Uhm, I mean, knowing that I haven't, you know, broken through and haven't had that huge win at a major, I know that. I know that I'm playing well enough to make the quarterfinals of Grand Slams and beat top 10 players.

You know, I'm lacking that one huge result, that one big one where it opens everyone's eyes and says, you know, Wow, I can't believe he beat him; that's a really good win. I don't have that. That's just off the top of my head, that's what I'll take away.

I'm sure tomorrow will come around and I'll be pretty satisfied with the way that I played here. You know, beating Berdych is a great win. I think that's my only top 10 win in a major. So I'll take that out of it. But it's tough right now.

Q. Fans are always comparing Roger and Rafa. On a neutral court, both players playing at their peak, who do you think is a better tennis player?

MARDY FISH: Right now?

Q. When they're both at their peaks.

MARDY FISH: Probably Roger. On a hard court, you know, a Miami type court. I mean, you know, he's got more credentials. But Rafa's not too far behind him. That would be my guess.

Q. You're hitting your stride here at an age when a lot of guys are starting to wind it down. Is there a feeling of, I wonder if I'll be at this stage here again?

MARDY FISH: Sure. I mean, look, I don't think in 12 months I'll be slowing down, but I'm certainly glad that I played on a stage like that here before I hang it up. Certainly am.

You know, this is one of those tournaments that you look forward to every year, especially someone like me, the way that I play. This is the one that you really want to do well at one time, especially since I hadn't. You know, I would have liked to have gone a little further.

Q. Did Nadal seem to be slowed at all or have any trouble with his left foot, which he had hurt in the prior match?

MARDY FISH: You tell me. I mean, you know, he seemed fine. He moved fine. I don't know.

Q. What was that like for you between matches? There was so much speculation about was he going to play, how hurt is he. You're the person that's most going to be affected by whatever.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, the first few hours, I guess Monday night, I mean, you're a human being, so those things creep into your head. You know, they blew it up pretty good. Went to the hospital, this and that.

So, yeah, I mean, that's not the way that I want to go through. Would I take it? Sure, I mean, I'd take it. But, you know, I'm glad he's not injured. And clearly he's not.

Q. So how do you see the semifinals playing out?

MARDY FISH: Uhm, well, I didn't see any of Murray obviously. Very surprised that Fed lost, especially with two sets' lead. I'll be interested to see the match with Murray. I feel like if he plays like that, you know, he's probably the favorite on this stage.

Novak's there. He's had a little easier road than maybe Rafa has. I think Rafa's the favourite, though.

Q. If Rafa were to go all the way, would that be a small consolation to you?

MARDY FISH: Sure. I mean, you don't root for it or anything like that. I'm sure John Isner feels like a small, tiny consolation at the French Open, even though, you know, he pushed him further than anyone else could. Yeah, I mean, small consolation, but nothing too serious.

Q. Tennis is a game of perspective. Two, three years ago, you're told that you're going to be reach the Wimbledon quarters, you'd be pumped. Now you're saying, sorry the pun, I didn't get the big fish. Talk about how your perspective has changed, and is that a good thing?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it's changed a lot. It is a good thing, for sure. You don't want to be satisfied. You don't want to be in a position where you're comfortable where you are. If you're 8, you want to be 7, so on and so forth.

It's a completely different mindset for me. Making the quarterfinals of the other majors that I did, I can't remember what I did after those matches, but I'm sure I was, you know, unbelievably excited, you know, and felt like it was sort of that's a great run. Now I play Roddick in Australia when he was top 5 in the world or 3 in the world or whatever, then Rafa at the US Open.

I really walked out on the court feeling that I could win. And I still felt like it even in the fourth set, if I could get the break back and just put a little scoreboard pressure on him in the third set. That was my goal, was to just kind of put a little pressure on him serving, and at 5 6 that worked.

I felt a lot more comfortable, you know, throughout the match. You know, what I'm trying to say is I wanted to win; I felt like I could win. Maybe in those other matches I was sort of happy to be there.

Q. What about Davis Cup, leading the American team, how does that feel?

MARDY FISH: I don't think that's gonna be the case. I mean, Andy's always been the guy. He's gonna be the guy that we all sort of bounce off of and lean on, you know, get our energy from.

It will be great playing for Jim. Obviously I wasn't there in Chile. This will be my first time with him, so I'm really excited.

Q. What about Wimbledon translates well to your game? What about your game works well on this surface? Are those qualities of Wimbledon that are kind of distinct from other surfaces, are they getting more pronounced or more similar to hard court?

MARDY FISH: Getting a lot more similar to hard court, for sure. You know, the bounces are just so true. You feel like sometimes a lot of topspin doesn't jump through the court at all. It slows it down quite a bit. Especially today.

The conditions on Monday and the conditions today were completely different. There was a lot of humidity and it was a lot warmer on Monday. The court played a lot differently. It played a lot faster, which I liked. And today it felt very slow. But maybe it's because he's getting to everything, you know.

And the first part, it suits my style quite a bit just because I love coming forward. I love putting pressure on. I usually serve pretty well.

Q. You've played all these guys now, Berdych included. When you think about what sort of defines Rafa and what makes him different from everybody else really that you've played in the past and what defines him as a champion, what do you think that really is?

MARDY FISH: You know, you never feel comfortable. You're talking about on the court?

Q. Yes. Just playing him.

MARDY FISH: You're never comfortable. You know that when you walk out there it's going to be a battle regardless. You know, there's quite a few guys that you can walk out on the court with and maybe think if they're having a bad morning that they're not going to show up maybe. Or if you get on top of them, you don't want to wake them up, you can kind of get through the match.

He's never going to do that. I've never seen him do that. It's pretty incredible. He just shows up every time. 40 Love points, the game's not over. You see a lot of those games coming back.

You know, he just puts so much pressure on you with his forehand, with his movement. His forehand is so heavy and he can hit it so many different places, that when he's staying aggressive with it and when he's trying to hit it through the court, it's impossible to read and you're on the defense for the entire point basically.

Q. There was one point you were in control. Rafa runs down and hits a running forehand that hits the T out of nowhere. Your hat kind of goes askew.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, kind of near the end of the match.

Q. Yeah. Talk about his powers of retrieval, his defence to offence, and compare it to Novak, who is pretty darn good, too.

MARDY FISH: I think from the wings, on the run, when you're at the net, kind of passing shot type things, Rafa's as good as I've ever seen anybody. I mean, he can turn anything into a winner from anywhere on the court.

And Djokovic uses his movement. Rafa kind of uses sort of his forehand or his racquet really does the work and his hands do the work. Obviously he gets there and his movement's great. Djokovic does it with his feet; he does it with his legs. He'll turn a regular, you know, sort of offensive shot from me, maybe sort of a cross court forehand offensive shot that I'm still at the baseline into offense for him.

On hard courts, you know, Rafa passes as good as anyone. Novak moves as good as anyone right now.

Source

Atlanta - Fish sort Mahut

Le 22/07/2011 à 08:07 | Mis à jour le 22/07/2011 à 08:14

Le seul Français en lice à Atlanta a été sorti en huitièmes. Nicolas Mahut a été éliminé par Mardy Fish dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi en deux sets (6-3, 6-3). En quarts de finale, l'Américain rencontrera l'Indien Somdev Devvarman, qui a battu le Japonais Tatsuma Ito en deux sets : 6-1, 6-3.

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