Posts tagged tennis
Polson tennis starts off strong
Apr 1st
(From the Daily Interlake)
POLSON – Polson tennis coach Bob Hislop couldn’t have asked for a better way to open the high school tennis season.
The Pirates did not lose a set in blanking county rival Ronan 7-0 in both boys and girls action on Thursday.
“It’s really nice start to the season,” Hislop said. “It was just good to get the match in.”
Hislop was especially pleased with the performances of his girls and double teams.
Polson is back in action Saturday, hosting Libby at 10 a.m. and Hamilton at 4 p.m.
BOYS
Polson 7, Ronan 0
Brady Hislop, P, defeats Chase Allen, 6-1, 6-0
Ian Laimbeer, P, defeats Joe Dresen 6-0, 6-2
Andrew Storro, P, defeats Allen Fortin, 6-0, 6-1,
Jared Gallatin, P, defeats Tyson Allen, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles - Will Davy/Justin Evertz, P, defeats Hunter Schima/Payton Adams 6-2, 6-1
Hayden Congdon/Dylan McCrumb, P, defeats Aaron Yazzie/Tyler Anderson 6-0, 6-1
Sam Peel/Reed Hovenkotter, P, defeats Daniel Aylesworth/Logan Sonkkala 6-0, 6-1
GIRLS
Polson 7, Ronan 0
Kendyall Rochin, P, defeats Josie Benedetti 6-1, 6-4
Whitney Zimmerman, P, defeats Taylor Kourville 6-1, 6-1
Karly Rochin, P, defeats Jonelle Lauer 6-3, 6-1
Dominique McGowan, P, defeats Tashina Barnaby 6-2, 6-4
Doubles - Mackenzie Clay/Jordan Quin, P, defeats Darian Blixt/Catelyn Matkovich 6-1, 6-1
Audra Engebretson/Carmen Borchers, P, defeatsSeri Smith/Brianna Frank 6-2, 6-0
Tegan Bauer/Mollybeth Hendriz, P, defeats Elsie Bold/Rachel Cordis 6-3, 6-0
From leaderadvertiser.com
West Windsor-Plainsboro South boys’ tennis players up to the ‘challenge’
Apr 1st
Mike Dill/For The TimesMichael Song, Daniel Vaysburd, Captain Abhinay Tumati & Coach Jim Giovacchini. Coach Giovacchini instructing on a proper racket grip.
The high school tennis season is just beginning, but the most stressful part of the season is over. Challenge matches often create anxiety for coaches and players.
Players may have an idea where they expect to fit in on the team, but they still must win the appropriate matches to get there. One bad day, and you could be further down in the lineup than you wanted, or pushed out of a starting position altogether. This applies even more so to the stronger teams.
According to West Windsor-Plainsboro South coach Jim Giovacchini, that’s also the time when a coach can see how a player deals with pressure, one of the most important considerations in tennis. “There’s a ton of stress,” he says about challenge matches.
WW-P South has completed its challenge system and Giovacchini is the first to admit that not everyone is happy. But positions have been determined, and the team is ready to compete. As the premier high school team in the area, it is interesting to see how this year would pan out after losing players to graduation in two singles spots.
Not to worry. A freshman talent, Michael Song, is playing first singles. However, not everything is set in stone. Daniel Ng, last year’s third singles star who mostly played second singles because of team injuries, was unable to play his final challenge match this past week because of a foot injury. This might set him back just a few days until he’s ready to challenge for the top spot, so adjustments had to be made until his return. And with three strong teams starting off the South schedule (Hightstown, Robbinsville, and WW-P North), an upset is possible.
Daniel Vaysburd, who played doubles last year, will play third singles. Doubles teams are Abhinay Tumati and Thomas Weng at first, and Peter Ku and freshman Nick Chen at second. Again, things can change. Other strong players are waiting in the wings.
“Most of the kids play year-round,” Giovacchini said. “Some take a group lesson once a week.” For many teams, this would be great, but on this state title contender, it may not be enough.
South won the Mercer County Tournament six of the last seven years and is a strong front-runner to repeat at the April 25 tournament.
What they really would like is a state title. Last year, the Pirates suffered some late-season injury setbacks and were eliminated, 3-2, by Montgomery in the sectional final.
“We have more depth than last year,” Giovacchini said. “And this will be the youngest team I’ve ever put out there. Three of the top eight are freshmen.”
• Other Colonial Valley Conference teams looking strong are West Windsor-Plainsboro North, Hopewell Valley, Hightstown, and Princeton. Peddie and Lawrenceville will lead the way among prep teams.
• The leading players county-wide look to be Chris Seitz, Hun; Vinit Palayekar, Hightstown; Tim Rosensteel, Peddie; Kenny Zheng, Hopewell; Ramy Bekhiet, Robbinsville; and Michael Song, WW-P South.
Coaching notes:
• Jason Dratman, the director of tennis at Hopewell Valley Golf Club, takes the reins at Pennington School, replacing Dave Honhart.
• Will Ashe, last year’s assistant coach at Princeton Day School, moves into the head coaching position and replaces Rome Campbell.
• Chris Chirico replaces Guy Dippolito at Robbinsville. Chirico has played nationally and internationally, was ranked No. 1 nationally in the juniors, played for Texas A&M, and played Junior Davis Cup.
• John Arnold is in his 33rd and final year of coaching at Montgomery. He has an impressive 504-191-1 record.
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From www.nj.com
Ray McNulty: Mardy Fish — America’s best tennis player
Apr 1st
VERO BEACH — Class act that he is, Mardy Fish wouldn’t dare say it, especially when the comparison involves a longtime friend.
So I’ll say it for him.
Fish, who grew up on the sun-splashed courts of this picturesque, seaside town, is America’s best tennis player.
Yes, he’s better than Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open and proudly carried the flag for U.S. men’s tennis after Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi put away their rackets.
Fish hasn’t had a better career. He hasn’t won any Grand Slam titles. He hasn’t played in nearly as many marquee matches.
But right now?
This past year?
Based on performance?
Fish, now the highest-ranked American on the ATP Tour, is playing better tennis — so good, in fact, that he has more than a puncher’s chance to take out No. 2-seeded, unbeaten-this-year Novak Djokovic in Friday’s Sony Ericsson Open semifinal in Miami.
“When you watch him play, it’s really not surprising that he hasn’t lost yet, because he’s playing so well,” Fish said of Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in January, the Dubai Championships in February and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., earlier this month.
“He has zero weaknesses right now. Obviously, confidence is a huge part of our sport, and he’s got all of it. The guy moves as good or better than anyone on a hard-court surface. He’s hitting his forehand as well as anyone in the world. His two-handed backhand is the best two-hander in the world, in my opinion. And he’s serving well again.
“But he’s not going to win every single match this year,” he added. “Whether it’s this week or in July, he’s not going to win every one. It’s just not possible. So, hopefully, it can be me.”
Maybe it can.
Fish, at age 29, is enjoying a second act of a career that, until last year, was marked by inconsistency and injury. After undergoing knee surgery in the fall of 2009, he drastically changed his diet, shed 30 pounds and made a serious commitment to fitness.
His quickness improved.
So did his stamina.
And his game.
The result? Fish’s 2010 season was the best in 11 years on the Tour.
He won three titles and a career-high 40 matches, was the runner-up at the Queens Club tournament and at the Masters Series event in Cincinnati, and almost single-handedly led the U.S. to a face-saving victory in a Davis Cup relegation tie in Colombia, where he won two five-set singles matches and teamed with John Isner to win the doubles.
Ranked a career-best 16th to end the year, Fish, as you’d expect, was eager to build on his 2010 success by taking aim at the top 10 in 2011.
“That’s a huge goal, definitely, just to get there once in my career,” Fish said. “I’d love to get there and stay there, obviously, but I’ve got to get there first.”
However, Fish went to Australia weakened by a potentially dangerous, virus-related thyroid problem and, after winning a five-set opener, lost in the second round.
His illness finally diagnosed, Fish returned to the U.S. and reached the semifinals in Memphis and Delray Beach before losing to budding Canadian star Milos Raonic at Indian Wells — the first time in 13 months that he had lost back-to-back matches.
It has been in Miami, though, that he has played his best tennis this year.
Seeded 14th, Fish has reached the semis without dropping a set, knocking off Julien Benneteau, Richard Gasquet, Juan Martin del Potro and David Ferrer along the way.
His 7-5, 6-2 victory over Ferrer in Wednesday’s quarterfinals guaranteed that he’ll rise to at least No. 11 in next week’s world rankings, where he’ll move past Roddick.
“Very humbling,” Fish called it, adding, “This is a pretty big country, a lot of people playing tennis. So I’ll try to put it into perspective. … But a career-high No. 11 sounds really good, too.”
A spot in the top 10 would sound better — but he needs to get past Djokovic to get there next week. And that’ll take something special.
Maybe a home-crowd advantage?
Fish expects to have a sizable group of supporters from Vero Beach and Boca Raton, where he went to high school and lived with Roddick’s family, at the match.
That group will include his father, Tom, the tennis director at Windsor, the beachside community just north of Vero Beach.
“He’s very active in my career,” Fish said. “Coaching-wise, he’s taken a back seat, but he’s very helpful and been a huge part of my success. He’s extremely supportive, extremely positive.
“He’s had sort of a learn-on-your-own approach: ‘I’ll help you in any way I can, but if you’re going to make mistakes, you make them and figure it out on your own.’ “
Fish seems to have figured things out.
He’s excited about the opportunity to put his game up against the hottest player on the planet. And if he serves well — if the weather is hot and humid, which would make the court play faster — he knows he’s got enough other weapons to make things interesting.
“I love playing in the heat,” Fish said. “I can’t speak for him.”
I can speak for Fish, at least when it comes to being America’s best men’s tennis player. But I don’t need to.
The rankings say it all.
And right now, based on his performance the past year, they say Fish is the best we’ve got.
ray.mcnulty@scripps.com
From www.tcpalm.com
Men’s Tennis Back on Track, Tops Middle Tennessee State
Apr 1st
March 31, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Rain forced the No. 66 DePaul men’s tennis team’s match with Middle Tennessee State inside, but that did not slow down the Blue Demons who swept the Blue Raiders 7-0 on Thursday at Nashboro Village. The win snapped DePaul’s four-match skid and the Blue Demons improve to 12-7. Middle Tennessee State falls to 7-9.
DePaul won the doubles point behind strong performances in the first and third positions. Ben Hartman and Filip Dzanko took an 8-3 win from Matthew Langley and Dimitri Pippos. The win, was pair’s tenth of the season and the duo has won its last two matches.
Sven Kasper and Bartosz Jozwiak won their 20th match of the year with an 8-4 victory over Ben Davis and Shaun Waters. The Blue Demon duo improves to 9-7 in the top spot.
With a 1-0 advantage, DePaul sustained its momentum into singles action. Hartman, George Chanturia, Jozwiak and Dzanko all won their respective singles matches in two sets, while Sven Kasper and Matija Palinic needed three sets to complete the Blue Demon sweep.
Hartman was the first off the court in the sixth position with a dominating 6-4, 6-2 win on the fourth court. The senior has won his last three matches and improves to a team-best 18-10 on the year.
Chanturia was the next to complete his match and took a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win from Ben Davis in the second position.
Kasper clinched DePaul’s victory with his 16th singles win of the season. The sophomore improved to 11-8 in the top spot with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 triumph over Shaun Waters.
With the match in hand, Jozwiak won his 75th career singles match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Pippos in the fifth position. The senior improves to 18-11 on the season and is 11-6 in duals.
The Blue Demons take Friday off before beginning the Sun Belt Shootout on Saturday. DePaul is the top seeded team in the tournament and squares off with eighth seeded Troy at 9 a.m.
No. 66 DePaul 7, Middle Tennessee 0
Doubles
1. Seven Kasper/Bartosz Jozwiak (DPU) def. Ben Davis/Shaun Waters (MT) 8-4
2. Kyle Wishing/Elliot Barnwell (MT) def. George Chanturia/Matija Palinic (DPU) 8-3
3. Ben Hartman/Filip Dzanko (DPU) def. Matthew Langley/Dimitri Pippos (MT) 8-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Seven Kasper (DPU) def. Shaun Waters (MT) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
2. George Chanturia (DPU) def. Ben Davis (MT) 7-6 (3), 6-4
3. Matija Palinic (DPU) def. Matthew Langley (MT) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
4. Ben Hartman (DPU) def. Elliot Barnwell (MT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Bartosz Jozwiak (DPU) def. Dimitri Pippos (MT) 6-4, 6-3
6. Filip Dzanko (DPU) def. Kyle Wishing (MT) 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 6
From www.depaulbluedemons.com
Women’s Tennis Welcomes Gators, Gamecocks
Apr 1st
March 31, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s tennis team, fresh off a 6-1 home victory over Auburn, will host the No. 2 Florida Gators on Friday and No. 38 South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
Senior Megan Broderick and sophomore Jessica Stiles each won their co-team leading eighth victories in singles play against Auburn on Sunday. Freshman Khristina Blajkevitch leads Kentucky with a 4-2 record in Southeastern Conference play and leads all UK rookies with seven singles victories. The duo of Blajkevitch and Broderick is the Cats’ top doubles tandem with four victories this season. The Wildcats (4-14, 2-4 SEC) are 4-3 at home this season and have won each of their past two SEC matches at the Boone Tennis Complex by 6-1 counts.
Florida (17-1, 6-0 SEC) has won 20 consecutive regular-season SEC matches entering this week. The Gators, 2010 SEC champions, have five players ranked inside the top 100 of the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings. Led by sophomore Allie Will, the No. 6 ranked player in the country, the Gators also feature sophomore Lauren Embree, the No. 33 ranked player in singles, and freshmen Olivia Janowicz, Alex Cercone and Sofie Oyen, the No. 41, No. 47, No. 93 ranked players in the country, respectively.
The 38th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (11-5, 3-3 SEC) split their SEC matches last weekend, beating Mississippi State 7-0 in Starkville, Miss., while losing at home to No. 29 Ole Miss by a 4-1 score. Junior Anya Morgina extended her winning streak to six matches at No. 1 singles with a straight-set win over No. 27 Kristi Boxx of Ole Miss. Morgina, who is currently ranked No. 39, has beaten three players ranked among the top 30 during the month of March and is the first Gamecock to reach the 20-win plateau in singles this season.
Friday’s match against the Gators will be the Wildcats’ Blue and White game as well as UK Student Day where they a student will have an opportunity to win a free tennis lesson from UK tennis coaches. The first 50 fans at Saturday’s game will receive a free pink tennis shirt.
For live updates of the Wildcats’ matches against Florida and South Carolina this weekend, as well as season-long news on the women’s tennis team, visit UKathletics.com.
From www.ukathletics.com
Federer into Miami tennis semis, Sharapova in final
Mar 31st
MIAMI (AFP) – Maria Sharapova rallied to reach the women’s final of the WTA and ATP Masters hardcourt tournament here Thursday, while Roger Federer barely worked at all to reach the men’s semi-finals.
Sharapova, seeded 16th, overcame her slow start by winning 11 straight games en route to a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 semi-final victory over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.
In Saturday’s final, Sharapova will be seeking her first title since May 2010, and her first in Miami.
She’ll play the winner of Thursday night’s semi-final between third-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva and 2009 Miami champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
Federer spent just 10 minutes on court, winning three games before opponent Gilles Simon retired with a stiff neck.
Federer, seeded third, won 12 of the 15 points against France’s Simon, who talked with a trainer during a changeover before conceding the match and shaking hands with Federer.
Disappointed fans booed as Simon departed the court.
“He told me he woke up this morning with a stiff neck and couldn’t move,” Federer said. “It’s obviously disappointing when it happens in front of an audience. You get booed off the court — that’s rough. It’s not the way you want to move on, but look, I’ll take those because they happen quite rarely.”
Federer next faces either top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal or seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych.
Federer beat Nadal for the title here in 2005, the last time they played each other in the United States.
Sharapova, who finished runner-up here in 2005 and 2006, missed the tournament from 2008-2010 because of injuries.
She got off to a shaky start as she double-faulted three times in dropping her first service game.
But as the match wore on, Sharapova trimmed back her errors and returned Petrovic’s serve aggressively.
Petkovic had 11 game points in the second set but couldn’t convert any of them.
From au.news.yahoo.com
Vero Beach native Mardy Fish becomes top-ranked US tennis player | Photo Gallery
Mar 31st
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KEY BISCAYNE — Mardy Fish officially became the top-ranked American tennis player for the first time in his career when he crushed an error-prone David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 in a quarterfinal match at the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday afternoon.
Fish will be ranked a career-best No. 11 for reaching the semis and could crack the Top 10 by making his fourth Masters 1,000 final.
“That’s the goal I’m going for the most,’’ Fish said during a post-match interview with ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert. “I don’t think I would ever feel I’m No. 1. Andy’s had a pretty good career and will always be the top dog of my generation.”
Fish, 29, hasn’t dropped a set in his four matches.
On serve until 5-6 of the first set, Fish was gifted the the critical break of serve when the sixth-ranked Spaniard double-faulted twice in a row.
Fish is 4-3 against Ferrer, 29, but hadn’t played him since 2007.
Fish will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic — who beat South African Kevin Anderson in Wednesday’s night match — in the semifinals on Friday.
At 5-foot-9, Ferrer is considered the best little man in the game, but after the first set he seemed in a rush to get to the clay-court season as he went down meekly.
Match point came when Ferrer had an open court to hit into but sailed his two-handed backhand long.
Fish said he will have to be at his best to get past Djokovic.
“(Djokovic) is playing so well. He has zero weaknesses right now,” Fish said. “Obviously confidence is a huge part of our sport, and he’s got all of it right now. The guy moves as good or better than anyone on a hardcourt surface. If you get really, really picky, his forehand isn’t as strong as his backhand.
“His backhand, two-handed backhand, is the best two-handed backhand, in my opinion, in the world. And he’s serving well again.”
From www.tcpalm.com
Borderites slam Cubs in 6-1 tennis win
Mar 31st
Blaine seniors Katey Conway and Samantha Nault continued their dominant tennis performances in Monday’s 6-1 Northwest Conference victory over the Sedro-Woolley Cubs at Blaine high school.
Conway and Nault racked up their third doubles victory in a row against Sedro-Woolley’s Madison Vanliew and Brittany Reed, winning in two sets 6-2, 6-3. Blaine’s second doubles team, Joanna Hubbard and Hanna Raine, pulled out a come-from-behind victory against Taylor Cargile and Whitley Ousterhout, going 3-6, 7-5 and 6-0.
The Borderites, who improved their conference record to 2-0 on the season, swept all but one of their four singles matches, with Blaine’s Alex Henderson falling to Sedro-Woolley’s Kilee Beuse in straight sets in the first singles match. Borderite Aubrie Hagen secured a victory a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kristin Huggins, while Emily Grayston and Sheylin Sennett won the third and forth singles matches of the day, respectively.
The Borderites came off a 6-1 non-conference loss to Bellingham at Blaine high school on March 23, with Conway and Nault securing the sole victory, 6-1, 6-4, against Bellingham’s Kate Troutman and Cari Pearsell. Blaine tennis started its season with a rain-delayed 4-3 win against the Mount Vernon Bulldogs on March 22. The Borderites swept all but one of the singles matches against the Bulldogs and managed a tie-breaking win to best Mount Vernon by one match.
Blaine girls’ tennis next heads to Squalicum high school to take on the Storm at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, April 1.
Photo by Jeremy Schwartz
From www.thenorthernlight.com
Why Novak Djokovic is the best returner in tennis
Mar 31st
It was the opening point of the fifth game of the Indian Wells semifinal 12 days ago, and here was a quintessential example of why Novak Djokovic is the best returner in tennis.
Roger Federer had hit one of those perfectly placed, half-slice serves about an inch inside the sideline — a ball that does not come back against 99.9 percent of the players on the ATP Tour.
But there was Djokovic, his body already into an extreme lean a split-second after the serve was hit, and his racket so fully extended that he struck the return from beyond the doubles sideline. Not just struck it, but returned it with enough pace that Federer didn’t have a gimme second shot.
Even though Federer’s back-up ground stroke had plenty of pace to the backhand corner, there was Novak, a bit off-balance from a mad dash but with sufficient power in his wrists to lash a cross-court pass for the winner.
David Ferrer? Great service returner. Very quick-twitch feet. Nikolay Davydenko? Superb serve returner. Makes you work for every point. Rafa Nadal? Well, what needs to be said about his returning.
But if you had to pick out just one player who is, today, the best returner in tennis, it’s Djokovic, who is, with very little doubt, also the toughest man to ace on the ATP Tour.
How tough? Federer had just one ace in that Indian Wells semifinal — an unheard of number for the former No. 1 player. One ace in a three-set match in which Federer had 13 service games.
In three matches this year against Djokovic, all losses, Federer has served 39 games for 11 aces.
A lot has been written about Djokovic’s precise serving, his court coverage and his metronomic ground stroking — all key facets of his game. But, for me, the single ingredient that has separated him from the pack in 2011 is his returning.
The inability to get free points off this guy not only makes him a threat to break in almost every opponent’s service game, but there is the added intimidation of his victims.
In the Indian Wells final, Nadal had perhaps the worst serving match since ascending to tennis’ elite — under 50 percent first serves in as he tried to pump up the speed to compensate for Novak’s returning. He lost in three sets.
The art of the service return doesn’t make too many TV sports replay segments, but if you value highly the more significant skills in tennis, you need to spend time watching Nole at work against a top server.
Wednesday at the Sony Ericsson Open, for example, Djokovic held tall, power-serving Kevin Anderson, who had 37 aces for the tournament coming into the match, to just four. And the first was, in fact, a fault which, for some odd reason, Nole refused to challenge.
It’s not just warding off aces that makes him the best returner in the game. Getting a racket on the ball is only one part of the equation, along with getting the ball into play and getting it back deep enough to get into the point. Djokovic has that entire package.
He’s had some matches this year in which he gave up a significant number of aces, but it was to players who are capable of rolling up big numbers on a hot-serving day. Tomas Berdych had nine aces against Nole at Dubai a few weeks ago and Feliciano Lopez had seven in the same tournament.
Two of the biggest servers in the game are Ivo Karlovic and Andy Roddick. Djokovic last played Ivo three years ago and gave up 20 aces, but you could argue that was another Djokovic in another time. The last four times he’s played Roddick, he’s given up 21 aces — well under Roddick’s average.
Great service returning requires fresh legs, even after three hours on court, and it’s amazing to see Nole is this heightened state of fitness, because he’s been going almost non-stop since last season, playing the Davis Cup final against France in the first week of December and then having very little time off to rest before preparing for 2011.
Yet he’s showing no signs of tiring. In these last two tournaments, both ATP 1000s (Indian Wells and Key Biscayne), Djokovic has played 10 matches and been aced just 21 times in 84 service games. That’s one ace every four serving games.
You won’t have any difficulty arguing that he has evolved into the best returner in tennis.
From www.worldtennismagazine.com
Vero Beach native Mardy Fish becomes top-ranked US tennis player
Mar 31st
Jeffrey M. Boan/AP
Mardy Fish celebrates his 7-5, 6-2 win over David Ferrer at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne.
KEY BISCAYNE — Mardy Fish officially became the top-ranked American tennis player for the first time in his career when he crushed an error-prone David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 in a quarterfinal match at the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday afternoon.
Fish will be ranked a career-best No. 11 for reaching the semis and could crack the Top 10 by making his fourth Masters 1,000 final.
“That’s the goal I’m going for the most,’’ Fish said during a post-match interview with ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert. “I don’t think I would ever feel I’m No. 1. Andy’s had a pretty good career and will always be the top dog of my generation.”
Fish, 29, hasn’t dropped a set in his four matches.
On serve until 5-6 of the first set, Fish was gifted the the critical break of serve when the sixth-ranked Spaniard double-faulted twice in a row.
Fish is 4-3 against Ferrer, 29, but hadn’t played him since 2007.
Fish will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic — who beat South African Kevin Anderson in Wednesday’s night match — in the semifinals on Friday.
At 5-foot-9, Ferrer is considered the best little man in the game, but after the first set he seemed in a rush to get to the clay-court season as he went down meekly.
Match point came when Ferrer had an open court to hit into but sailed his two-handed backhand long.
Fish said he will have to be at his best to get past Djokovic.
“(Djokovic) is playing so well. He has zero weaknesses right now,” Fish said. “Obviously confidence is a huge part of our sport, and he’s got all of it right now. The guy moves as good or better than anyone on a hardcourt surface. If you get really, really picky, his forehand isn’t as strong as his backhand.
“His backhand, two-handed backhand, is the best two-handed backhand, in my opinion, in the world. And he’s serving well again.”
From www.tcpalm.com
