By Ros Satar
- Mardy Fish continues his farewell tour after strong opening win
- H2H split with four wins each
- Andy Murray won their last encounter in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, USA – World No. 2 Andy Murray will look to end Mardy Fish’s farewell run in Cincinnati when he opens his campaign on Tuesday night.
With the No. 2 spot back in his grasp, but with all the elite here, Murray opens his account on what is expected to be a turbulent day given the conditions that have already plagued this week in Ohio.
After clinching the Montreal Masters, Murray had to struggle with the elements to get some initial hits in, although in his pre-tournament press conference he felt that the conditions were not as slow as others were maybe hinting.
“I like the conditions here. Normally it’ quite high-bouncing, court’s lively and I like that. It’s definitely different to what the conditions were like in Montreal. I’d say the court is bouncing a bit higher., It could be slower but normally the ball travels through the air pretty quickly here – evens itself out a little bit.”
Murray certainly remembered that he had been on the losing end of a hard fought encounter back in 2010, where Fish beat him in the quarter-finals.
“It will be a tough match. He obviously likes the courts and the conditions here. He’s obviously not played much the last couple of years, so I should be more match tight or match-fit, but he’s had a good win in the first round, and has been here a while getting used to the conditions here, so I’d expect it to be tricky and he’ll also with here and US Open being his last two tournaments, he’ll obviously want to perform as best he can so it’ll be a tough match.”
Fish has, of course been through the mill, suffering cardiac arrhythmia in 2012 which in turn resulted in a sever anxiety disorder that was nothing short of crippling. He returned to the tour to the delight of fans and the support of his peers, but he will retire after the US Open, which will be his final tournament, and it is bound to be an emotional send off.
While US fans will wish for a fairy-tale ending in Cincinnati for Fish, form and confidence from Murray’s win in Montreal puts him in the driving seat to advance.
Murray and Fish are scheduled on Grandstand Court on Wednesday 19 August, not before 7pm (Midnight, 20 August BST).
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