Fish, Roddick Ready to Continue Friendly Rivalry

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When Mardy Fish was a senior in high school in 1999, he was made to feel welcome in a new home by the Roddick family, where he lived for a year in Florida while he and best mate Andy shared spots in the tennis and basketball teams.

Now, almost 10 years later, Fish is entering what has become almost a second home for four-time champion Roddick, as the two meet in the third round at The Queen’s club for a spot in the quarterfinals of The Artois Championships.

Having played against each other nine times on the ATP circuit, it is Roddick who has the significant edge, winning eight in a row since their first meeting in Delray Beach back in 2003. The most painful defeat for Fish came in the ATP Masters Series in Cincinnati in 2003, when he had two championship points in the final but lost in three sets.

“I feel I’ve been hard done by in a few of the matches I’ve played against Andy, and even he would say I deserved to win one or two of them,” says Fish. “At the same time, the loss to Andy in that Cincinnati final and the fact that I have a 1-8 record against him does play on your mind. But I’m really looking forward to the match.”

The two have already met three times this year, once at the Australian Open in Melbourne, again in San Jose and then last month on the clay in Rome, where Roddick eventually made his way to the semifinals only to injure his shoulder against Stanislas Wawrinka. The former World No. 1 made his return to competitive action on Wednesday, but Fish doesn’t think Roddick’s shoulder will be a factor.

“He’ll still be serving pretty big and won’t take it easy on me,” said Fish “He says it’s still painful but it’s not hampering his play too much.”

Currently ranked No. 36 on the ATP tour, Fish has been steadily working his way back up the rankings after a serious left wrist injury limited his appearances in 2005 and ’06. But he announced his arrival back in the big time after upsetting World No. 1 Roger Federer to reach the final of this year’s Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, where he eventually lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets.

“That was a massive win for me,” says Fish. “It gave me a lot of confidence, beating possibly the greatest player of all time.”

Fish, who reached the final in Nottingham in 2003 and was the only player to take a set against Federer at Wimbledon that year, believes that while grass is his favourite surface, he hasn’t quite fulfilled his potential.

“I do feel like I’ve underachieved on grass as it’s my best and my favourite surface,” he says. “I’ve had some tough draws here and at Wimbledon in previous years but I’ve also had some chances that I haven’t taken, so I’m hopeful about this year’s grass court season.”

Like Roddick, Fish has also had plenty of changes in his personal life since his last appearance here. With Roddick engaged to Brooklyn Decker, Fish is also taking the marital step with Stacy Gardner, a model on the American version of Deal or No Deal.

“I love having Stacy on tour with me, she’s a calming influence,” says Fish. “We went on a date night the other night. There was me and Stacy, Andy and his fiancée Brooklyn and Robby Ginepri and his girlfriend. We really enjoyed it because we don’t get the chance to do that very often.”

Whatever the outcome of their third round encounter, these two great friends and rivals will share many more memories in the future.