The last time that Mardy Fish was scheduled to take to court at the US Open he withdrew from his fourth round match with Roger Federer in 2012 at a time when health concerns were at the forefront of his mind.
Today a relaxed Mardy Fish recovered from an opening set hiccup to defeat Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-7, 6-3,6-1, 6-3 on Grandstand in his final run at Flushing Meadows. Encouraged by an enthusiastic home crowd, Fish secured the victory in two hours and fifty-two minutes.
Cecchinato, in contrast to this Fish’s thirteenth visit to the US Open, was playing his first main draw of the US Open after losing in the second round of last year’s qualifying event.
Fish got off to a great lead in the opening game, breaking as Cecchinato displayed signs of nerves on one of the main courts. Fish then held the break until he served for the set at 5-4. Cecchinato though, broke back when a Fish forehand sailed wide. Both players then held for the tiebreak. Fish led 3-1 in the tiebreak, but again succumbed the lead. Cecchinato took full advantage to close the set 7-5 on the tiebreak.
Fish quickly regrouped, securing the second set 6-3, breaking twice to Cecchinato’s one break, highlighted by a strong return of eight points won from nine approaches to the net. Fish then rolled back the years in the third set, dropping just five points on serve and breaking three times, wrapping up the third set in little over half an hour.
Fish secured a solitary break in the final set, and though threatening a double break, eventually closed out the match 6-3, to an almighty applause from the vocal American supporters.
Despite Fish’s win, positive by many accounts though it was, he committed forty-two unforced errors, with twenty-six coming from his forehand. This first round encounter offered Fish the perfect start, an opponent that he could realistically navigate with room for error, there is likely to be little respite in his second round match.
His opponent will be the fellow veteran, left-hander and eighteenth seed Feliciano Lopez, who defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6, 6-1, 6-3. Fish owns a 5-3 lead in the head-to-head with Lopez, winning the last two, though their last meeting came more than three years ago in Cincinnati.
