Federer Persists Against Fish

Roger Federer said it best when he mentioned that he would just as soon not see Mardy Fish across the net at the U.S. Open later this month. Fish is not only 30 pounds lighter than a year ago, but he is playing with a high degree of confidence that spells danger for every opponent.

In the finals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Fish started just the way he finished in his semifinal win over countryman and longtime friend Andy Roddick. He served his way out of four break point chances in the first set and when Federer took a 5-4 lead in the tiebreaker, Fish ran off three straight points to seal the set.

The level of play was intense and very strategic. Both players brought newly acquired skills to the contest. Federer has altered his modus operandae to include attacking the return and coming to the net. These new elements proved useful for the Swiss who came back from the first set loss to win 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-4.

As well as the two men played, neither player could break service until Roger Federer took charge of the ninth game of the third set. The four time winner in Cincy then calmly served out the match in two hours thirty minutes.

With the win, Federer has now won six of his seven meetings with Fish. The title is Federer’s 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and is his second championship of the year. Federer had not won a title since claiming his 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

As for Fish, he seems the most dangerous of the four top Americans who celebrated the new rankings by having four players in the top 25 in the world. Andy Roddick is back in the top ten and Fish will be in the top 20. Sam Querrey is also having a good year and John Isner can never be counted out. The 6’9” power server suffered an ankle injury in Cincinnati and it may keep the big server out of the Open.

The win boosts Federer’s chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals between the eight best players at the O2 in London at the end of the year. The title is the 17th ATP Masters won by the Swiss.