The Pacific Life Open trophy is a replica of Randy Puckett's 18-foot sculpture of a mother humpback
whale and her calf. Surely it could not be held aloft by a mere Fish? Mardy's heroics in Indian Wells
suggested otherwise after he blew away Roger Federer in the semi-finals. Wins against Nikolay
Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian earlier in the week, highly meritorious as they
were, paled by comparison with the American's jaw-dropping 6-3 6-2 victory over the world number
one. Fish described the match as a somewhat surreal experience and this was reflected in his
curiously understated celebration. "It was just one of those kind of 'I'm not sure what just happened,
but I might as well go up to the net because I think the match is over' kinds of celebrations," he
said after inflicting on Federer his worst defeat for four years. Nevertheless, by the time reality
had re-emerged in the shape of Novak Djokovic, who wasted a lead in the second set but eventually
beat a floundering Fish 6-2 5-7 6-3 in the final, a legion of pun-writing sports writers had had a
whale of a time.
Ranked 98th in the world going into the tournament, Fish was about as unlikely a finalist as you
could possibly imagine, but his fierce serving, an ability to take the ball on the rise and rousing
support from the Indian Wells crowd proved a potent mix throughout the week. "Mardy was really
impossible to beat, it almost looked to me," said Federer, reflecting on his first defeat at the
hands of an American player since 2003. "He was just trying to go for everything and it sort of
worked. He would never miss, really."
2008 started well for Fish when he partnered Serena Williams to success at the Hopman Cup in Perth.
He might have made more of an impression in the Australian Open if he had not suffered a
loss of composure during his third round encounter with Jarkko Nieminen. Adjudged to have attempted
to hit a linesman with a ball early in the third set, Fish received a code violation from the chair
umpire and lost his grip on the match.
Fish has spent most of the last few years trying to re-establish himself on the Tour. A wrist
injury jeopardised a career that had seemed so promising in 2003 and 2004 when he claimed his first
ATP singles title at the Stockholm Open, broke into the Top 20 and enhanced his reputation further
by winning a silver medal for the United States at the Athens Olympics.
The son of a tennis teaching pro, Fish got an early taste of fame in 1984 when, at the age
of two, he was filmed by a Minneapolis TV station precociously hitting tennis balls over the net.
He lived with Andy Roddick's family in 1999 and the two played on the same high school basketball and
tennis teams. Off court, he is a fan of country music, surfing and golf.
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