ATC finalist Fish ‘playing the best tennis' of his career

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fans won't get the Andy Roddick-John Isner final that many hoped for, but they will have a pretty good story in Mardy Fish.

Fish, who upset top-seeded Roddick on Saturday night at the Atlanta Tennis Championships, had his 2009 season cut short in August by knee surgery to repair cartilage under his kneecap. He calls it the "darkest time for my career."

It spurred a turnaround. Through a strict diet and rehabbing, he shrank from 203 pounds to 170.

Joked Fish, "I can take my shirt off with confidence."

His conditioning gains have paid off considerably. Fish is 27-11 this year. He made the finals of a Wimbledon warm-up tournament, won a grass-court event in Newport, R.I., earlier this month and now has made his third finals of his past four tournaments.

Said Fish, "I think it's not a coincidence that I'm in the best shape of my life, and I'm playing the best tennis."

Fish and Isner have played once before, when Fish beat Isner in three sets in a hard-court event in San Jose, Calif., in March 2009.

Said Roddick, a close friend of Fish's, "He's a confident player right now, as he should be."

Dream on the line

Former Arkansas All-American Blake Strode knocked out Olivier Sajous, 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open national playoffs, which conclude at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on the stadium court.

He will play Cecil Mamiit, a 15-year pro ranked No. 513 in the world. Mamiit defeated Chris Wettengel 7-5, 6-3.

The playoffs are being held in conjunction with the ATC. The winner of the tournament, which began with more than 850 players in 16 sections nationwide, will get a wild card into the U.S. Open qualifying tournament. It was open to any interested player.

"That would be a huge goal achieved," said Strode, who has twice deferred Harvard Law School to attempt a professional tennis career. "Anytime you can play any sort of grand slam, main draw or [qualifiers], it's special. I would love to get to New York and play [qualifiers] there. It'd be huge."

Strode, incidentally, played doubles against Isner in 2007 when they were at Arkansas and Georgia, respectively. Strode remembers Isner hitting kick serves over his head in a Bulldog win.

"I think everyone sort of has their own path and way of getting places," Strode said. "It's actually great to see someone come from that same place and be doing so well now."

Doubles results

Isner took the court for his doubles semifinals match with James Blake against Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram about two hours after he finished his win over Anderson. Lipsky and Ram won 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). They will play Rohan Bopanna and Kristof Vliegen, who defeated Stephen Huss and Andre Sa 7-5, 7-5 on Saturday, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Lipsky and Ram are playing partners for the first time in their careers.

"We match up well. We both play opposite sides," Ram said. "We were with different partners for awhile and neither of us have partners for the moment, and we decided this would be a good week to start playing."

Etc.

Saturday, attendance for the afternoon session was 3,720 and 4,471 (sellout) for the evening. Late Saturday, Sunday's final was nearly sold-out. ... Before the ATC, semifinalist Kevin Anderson had not gotten past the second round of an ATP world-tour event since March 2008. ... The singles final will be at 3 p.m. and televised on ESPN2.