Fish overcoming obstacles, opponents
Mardy Fish faced a slew of physical and psychological challenges while recovering from two wrist surgeries that put his career on hold last spring, just after he'd broken into the ranks of top U.S. players.
Fish slogged through tedious rehab and a long hiatus from competition before returning to the men's tour this season. Yet arguably the hardest thing he's done on his climb back up is to take a step down.
The 24-year-old entered and won a Challenger tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., earlier this month while preparing for the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston. Fish last played on the second-tier circuit in late 2002, when he was still in dues-paying mode.
"He probably viewed those days as being done," said Todd Martin, one of Fish's co-coaches (the other is fellow ex-pro Scott Humphries).
But "winning breeds winning," a happy Fish said Sunday by phone from Houston, where he had just defeated Jurgen Melzer of Austria 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to collect his second tournament victory in as many weekends and his second career ATP title.
"You feel like you shouldn't be there, but you have to be there," Fish said of his decision to play in Tallahassee. "I know I don't want to be there very much, but in order not to be there, I have to win. You just get into that mind-set and you do what you have to.
"I wanted to go there and be the favorite and win, and I did."
Fish certainly wasn't favored in Houston, where he came in as a 212th-ranked wild card. His friend and defending champion Andy Roddick loomed in the draw, along with 2004 champion Tommy Haas of Germany, charismatic Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, top Americans James Blake and Robby Ginepri, and a handful of low-profile, slug-it-out clay courters.
Good fortune combined with Fish's sweat equity propelled him through the draw. He beat then-No. 91 Juan Monaco of Argentina in the first round. Rainer Schuettler of Germany withdrew before their second-round match with stomach problems. Meanwhile, No. 22 Baghdatis retired from his second-round match, pairing Fish with 74th-ranked Vince Spadea in the next round instead.
Finally, Haas arrived in the semis worn down from a three-set bash-fest with Roddick in the quarters and retired with a sore wrist down 4-1 in the first set.
Fish could relate, but felt no less sense of accomplishment when he lined up across the net from Melzer, who is ranked 65th this week. It was Fish's first final since late 2004 and his first tournament on clay since the 2004 French Open. (He won his only other ATP title in Stockholm in 2003.)
With the exception of Haas, all the players Fish faced in Houston were "guys I feel I should beat if I bear down," said Fish, now 8-6 on the season.
Martin, who watched the final on tape after Easter dinner at his in-laws' home in Florida, said that after Fish dropped the first set to Melzer, "I saw a general willingness and eagerness to attack, especially at the net. … Every time he commits to that, he gets good results."
Fish played well in the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami last month, but, "I think the tournament in Tallahassee helped a lot," Martin said.
"Having just won a tournament put him in a position to have some of the emotions you experience in a final," Martin said. "He's beaten good tennis players and sustained a level of play himself that's allowed him to be successful."
Fish jumped 91 ranking spots to land at No. 121 -- probably just beyond range of making the main draw of the French Open. He'll barnstorm through a few more Challengers (starting with a tournament in Bermuda this week), in hopes of ratcheting up his ranking in time to book a trip to Wimbledon.
Grass has been good to Fish in the past. He reached the final in Halle, Germany, in 2004 and Nottingham, England, in 2003, losing to Roger Federer and Greg Rusedski, respectively. He also pushed Federer to four sets in the round of 32 at Wimbledon in 2003.
Fed Cup preview
Amid all the teeth-gnashing and wailing (can't you hear it?) about the U.S. Fed Cup roster named last week to play in the first round at Germany this weekend, featuring journeywoman Jill Craybas and three young, relatively untested players ranked on the lower end of the top 100, I am dry-eyed. Who would you rather watch -- fit and interested or unfit and disinterested?
Doesn't seem like much of a contest to me, and I never expected captain Zina Garrison to charm the Williams sisters out of their current limbo. (No. 13 Venus Williams is 0-1 on the year; No. 107 Serena Williams is 2-1, and neither sister has played since January. No. 7 Lindsay Davenport has a bulging disc and an uncertain future.)
Craybas punched the clock at a career-high No. 39 this week and beat two seeded players, including No. 2 Kim Clijsters, last month in Key Biscayne, Fla. At that same tournament, one of the three Fed Cup newcomers, Jamea Jackson, took a set off Russia's Nadia Petrova, which might turn out to be something to brag about this season. Petrova's lights-out play earned her titles in Amelia Island and Charleston and a career-high No. 5 ranking this week.
Young dominates youth
Donald Young, playing on the junior level again after a tumultuous and winless pair of wild-card appearances in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne last month, swept the singles and doubles finals (with partner Jamie Hunt) at the prestigious Easter Bowl in Palm Springs, Calif., last weekend. Young, 16, of Atlanta, won the title two years ago at age 14. Another 16-year-old, Kim Couts of Bradenton, Fla., topped the girls singles field.
Freelance writer Bonnie DeSimone is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
