Mardy Fish lost his first ATP singles match in 18 months to fellow American Ryan Harrison in a third set tiebreaker but it still felt like a victory for Fish and American tennis fans.
Heart issues as well as anxiety kept the former world No. 7 player away from the court for a year and half. The fact that Fish was able to get back on the court after facing paralyzing anxiety and heart problems is an inspirational story that goes well beyond tennis and sports.
Going in to Indian Wells the only professional tennis Fish has played since Winston Salem in 2013 was the doubles event at this year’s Dallas Challenger. He has reportedly been practicing five to six times a week and had practiced with the likes of Grigor Dimitrov in Los Angeles who is he is playing doubles with at Indian Wells.
It wasn’t the cleanest match for Fish but it is a start in the right direction. Fish came out in the first set looking very tentative but was able to turn things around in the second set and for moments looked like his old self. Fish’s serve and forehand started to find his rhythm on his serve and ground strokes in the second set. Unfortunately Fish tightened up again in the third set at the wrong moments. He had two match points on Harrison’s serve but was unable to close it out and while Harrison showed frustration he was able to re-focus and win.
Fish’s backhand looked solid for the most part throughout the match but his forehand is obviously a little more prone to nerves as it looked extremely tight. He also still has room to improve on his footwork, which was lacking especially on the return. Lastly his focus and physical stamina started to go late in the third set. The good news for Fish is that all of these are things that can be worked out through more practices and matches. It just comes down to what the 33 year-old wants to do. No one would fault him for walking away after proving to himself that he was capable of playing again. That personal victory is biggest victory that he could ask for.
Fish is still in the Indian Wells doubles draw with Dimitrov, they will face David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco in the first round. Unfortunately that match will on a court that is not televised but that might be a good as it could mean less pressure.
If Fish is not interested in playing singles at the ATP level and is not ready for the PowerShares Series, it would be great to see him as a doubles specialist. It would be great to see him with someone like Andy Roddick or Mark Knowles. Roddick and Fish tried to get a wildcard into last year’s U.S. Open but were denied due to Roddick’s inability to fulfill existing drug-testing protocols. There are rumors that they may try again this year.
The only other event that is officially on Fish’s schedule is Miami where he will most likely play singles and doubles. He has said that he will re-evaluate his schedule after Miami to decide what he is going to do next but made it clear that he has no intentions of making a full return to the ATP tour. Tennis fans aren’t complaining though as they are just happy to see a healthy Fish back on the court.
