I’ve seen a lot of tennis in my 39 years of existence but what I saw from the first semifinal in Cincinnati between Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish was perhaps one of the most bizarre matches I’ve ever seen. Certainly more twists and turns than a corkscrew, and if you’re Roddick you wanna down the whole bottle of red and forget the match ever took place! I’m certainly not gonna try and explain everything that went down…
But I will congratulate Fish on a superb mental effort, probably one of the best of his career given the circumstances and magnitude of the match when things were falling apart at the seams! Victories like this taste very sweet especially when you coming back from way down as Fish has done this year!
As for the other protagonists, Roger Federer was looking razor sharp against Marcos Baghdatis! Chipping and charging, coming in a little more, varying the serve well. And even when he got passed early on by Baggy, he persisted and was rewarded on set point with a shoulder high volley. Bagdhatis serve let him down at the tail end of the match, which was a pity because he’s served well all week. But it been a good summer so far for him with plenty of positives, and of course, back in the Top 20!
Fish vs. Fed…I think Roger will win, but it’s gonna be no plain sailing. The weather’s gonna be good and so no interruptions, and Fish certainly will have the belief given he beat him so comprehensively in 2009 at Indian Wells. But Federer is still my pick in two tight sets. Should be good, two attacking players going toe to toe, no quarter asked, and none given!!!