By Blair Henley
Almost exactly one year ago, American Mardy Fish’s ranking sat just outside the top 100. When he stepped on the court today to play his first round match at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, he was announced as the No. 16 player in the world. That makes him the second-highest ranked American behind only Andy Roddick who was forced to pull out of the South Florida tournament yesterday with a flu-like illness.
And apparently Roddick isn’t the only one feeling under the weather. Fish’s opponent, No. 92 Bjorn Phau, lost the first five games of the first set before calling a trainer and subsequently retiring from the match after just a half hour of play.
Phau, who was also at the Memphis tournament where Roddick became ill, cited similar symptoms before throwing in the towel. American Ryan Harrison was another Memphis competitor who was vomited on-court multiple times in his loss to Florent Serra in Delray yesterday.
“I think a lot of people got [the virus] in Memphis,” Fish said. “It was so cold there the first few days.”
Though he has managed to avoid the flu, Fish has struggled since mid-November with a hyperthyroid condition that’s caused fatigue and muscle soreness.
“It takes three to six months to run its course,” Fish said of his illness. “I didn’t even know what a thyroid was until they told me. Now I’m getting my blood tested every five days.”
Fish’s severe fatigue coupled with the ankle injury that knocked him out toward the end of last year allowed him plenty of time to reflect on the second half of 2010 where he claimed two titles and racked up an impressive 28-5 record.
“I was able reminisce about the work that I put in and the summer that I had,” he said. “To be honest I was pretty spent after that, mentally. I had a lot of time to think about the beginning of the year and to not be healthy and not have my body be there for me was tough.”
He is undoubtedly referring to his disappointing second round loss to Tommy Robredo at the Australian Open, but things are looking up after his semifinal showing last week in Memphis. And now, with Roddick out in Delray, the door is wide open for Fish to capture his second title here.
“It went from one of the strongest 250 [level] tournaments you’ll see, and now it’s opened up for us pretty nicely,” he said.
Fish will play the winner of Rainer Scheuttler and Ricardo Mello next as he tries to build on last year’s breakout season, and win or lose, he’ll have some important fans in the stands.
“My dad couldn’t make it today, but they live close enough to where my mom can drive down,” Fish said of his parents who live in nearby Vero Beach. “I don’t see them much at all anymore. They’ve seen me play plenty of times, but just seeing them, period, is a lot better.”
Though Fish barely broke a sweat before his match ended this afternoon, there was more tennis to be seen in Delray. American youngsters Jack Sock and Donald Young took on Australian journeymen Stephen Huss and Ashley Fisher in the evening’s marquis matchup. Though the Australians prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 (Champion’s Tiebreak), 18-year-old Sock and 21-year-old Young held their own against the team of 35-year-old veterans.
Young lost his singles match earlier in the day to Kevin Anderson of South Africa, but another American, Ryan Sweeting, advanced easily. He’ll meet Sam Querrey in the second round.