On Sunday, Mardy Fish claimed his second successive ATP title in Atlanta after beating number two seed John Isner.
Fish, who was seeded at number six, had already setup an upset win over top seed Andy Roddick to make way to the Atlanta Tennis Championships final. The world number 49 had won 10 successive matches when he finally encountered Isner to beat him 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-4) in the scorching heat.

Fish, the winner of the Hall of Fame Championships said,”I feel as good as I’ve ever felt in my career.” The 28 year old further said,” I’ve never won two tournaments in one year, I’ve never won two tournaments in a row, and on the ATP tour, I’ve never won 10 matches in a row. It’s probably as good as it’s been.”

Isner, his opponent who was victorious in a long stretched 10-hour match versus Nicolas Mahut at the Wimbledon in June, had emerged winner earlier this year in Auckland and was eyeing the second ATP title. The 25-yar old seemed dominant against his opponent after clinching the first set. However, Fish, who was playing in his third final in four tournaments, shot back with a break later in the second set and in the early moments of third set too.

Isner retaliated immediately in the decisive moment and threatened Fish in the ninth game, however he fell short and lagged behind with Fish leading 4-0. Thereafter, Fish finally grasped the three points to emerge victorious. Post match, Fish said “Playing in the heat, you have to convince yourself you feel better than the other guy, even if you’re feeling it”. “I felt great until about five-all in the third set, but I didn’t want to leave anything out there”. “I was maybe a little lucky to pull through. It was a extremely physical match with all of the heat.”

No related posts.