Fish’s last Cincy hurrah By Ros Satar from @BritwatchSports
I thought it was worth taking some time out this morning to reflect on Andy Murray’s opening gambit against Mardy Fish, who will be rounding out his career on his own terms.
Few tennis fans will have been unmoved by his plight having suffered cardic arrhythmia in 2012, which resulted in a severe anxiety disorder that pretty much crippled his career there and then.
When he made his return to the tour, fans and his peers alike were delighted and supportive, but he will be retiring after this year’s US Open, and his send off will be emotional, of that there will be no doubt.
He did himself proud, having beaten Viktor Troicki in the first round, coming into the Masters on a wildcard, and Murray knew to expect a tough encounter. Their last two matches have been in Cincinnati and were split, as was their head to head record.
In his pre-tourmanent press conference, Murray offered up his thoughts:
“It will be a tough match. He obviously likes the courts and the conditions here. He’s obviously not played much the last couple of years, so I should be more match tight or match-fit, but he’s had a good win in the first round, and has been here a while getting used to the conditions here, so I’d expect it to be tricky and he’ll also with here and US Open being his last two tournaments, he’ll obviously want to perform as best he can so it’ll be a tough match.”
He was not wrong and throughout the match the momentum switched back and forth… well like a fish evading a hook.
For Murray it was a pleasing win to back up his Montreal victory, where he snapped an eight-match losing streak to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“I know him well. He’s a good guy. We get on well. Obviously I’m desperate to try and win the match. He’s still playing well. I was lucky because he hasn’t played many matches he made mistakes at the end of the sets, which is normal because he hasn’t played loads.
“But he made it very tricky for me and conditions were very tough. It was extremely humid and so different to last week.”
The best accolade Fish could have to call time on a career cut well before its time was due, will be to have a run in New York and be a thorn… nay, a hook in someone’s side to remind people of the talent and passion he still has.
Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Cincinnati Tennis, Mardy Fish, Ros Satar, Sports, Western and Southern Open
@MardyFish’s LAST HURRAH @ THE @CincyTennis TOURNAMENT- http://t.co/J1BuyJ7qV2 #tennis #MardyFish #Cincinnati #CincyTennis #atpcincinnati