MARDY FISH LOSES IN FINAL ATLANTA SINGLES MATCH

Written by: Staff on 28th July 2015

MARDY FISH LOSES IN FINAL ATLANTA SINGLES MATCH

Mardy Fish of the US in action against Dudi Sela of Israel during a first round match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 28 July 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

Mardy Fish will need to wait a little longer to claim his first match win in almost two years after falling in the first round of the BB&T Atlanta Open. The former World No. 7 and two-time Atlanta champion lost 6-4, 6-4 to Israel’s Dudi Sela in just his second appearance of the season and first since Indian Wells in March.

Fish, who has announced that he will retire at the end of the US Open, will play a first-round doubles match with close friend and former World No. 1 Andy Roddick Tuesday evening in Atlanta. His next appearance on the ATP World Tour will be at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he is a two-time finalist. It will be the next-to-last event of his pro career.

“The conditions were tough, but I’ve played on that court before so it wasn’t that big of a deal,” said Fish. “It felt like a good matchup and I felt like I could win, even though I didn’t play a lot this year.

“It’ll be good to go [into the US Open] and have a last run like Pete [Sampras] did. He was just able to play freely after announcing his retirement and that’s what I’m hoping for,” Fish added.

Sixth seed Steve Johnson overcame unseeded Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2. Johnson hit 15 aces and one double fault in the one-hour, 52-minute match.

The American broke Lacko twice in the opening set, taking it in 21 minutes. But the Slovak bore down on his service games in the following set, taking it in a tie-break by winning the last four points. In the deciding set, Johnson converted on his first break point at 3-2 and pulled away from there. His next opponent will be compatriot Tim Smyczek or Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.

Marcos Baghdatis took out qualifier Austin Krajicek 6-4, 6-0. The fifth seed broke his American opponent in the first game of the match before sweeping the second set and taking the match in 79 minutes. In the second round, he will face Sam Groth, who beat wild card Frances Tiafoe 7-6(3), 6-4.

Denis Kudla edged Ryan Harrison 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in an All-American battle which lasted two hours and eight minutes. Kudla claimed a mini-break at 5-5 in the final set tie-break and served out the match thereafter. He will face third seed Jack Sock in the second round.

(Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/atlanta-2015-tuesday-johnson )

Dudi Sela of Israel in action against Mardy Fish of the US during a first round match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 28 July 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Mardy Fish of the US in action against Dudi Sela of Israel during a first round match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 28 July 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Topics: Atp World Tour, BB&T Atlanta Open, Dudi Sela, Mardy Fish, Sports, Tennis News

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July 28, 2015 at 10:31 pm

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