Fish makes winning comeback
Source: AFP |
June 27, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MARDY Fish made a winning return to tennis in the opening round at Wimbledon yesterday - his first match following a procedure to address a frightening heart scare.
The world No. 12 beat Spain's Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 7-6 (7/1) and looked comfortable moving around the court. It was his first tournament appearance since April, when, as top seed, he fell at the first hurdle in Houston.
He had a procedure called cardiac catheter ablation in Los Angeles on May 23 to correct faulty wiring in his heart.
Fish said the arrhythmia had made it hard for him to sleep and his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He is the top American left in the draw after world No. 10 John Isner was knocked out on Monday.
During his two-hour, 37-minute match on the Court 12 show court against Ramirez-Hidalgo, the world No. 82, Fish sent down 24 aces and hit 61 winners.
He was at ease in the third set tie-break, sealing his victory with a cross-court return of serve for his first win since Miami in March.
Spanish No. 10 Ramirez-Hidalgo was the oldest player in the men's singles at 34 years and six months. Fish, by contrast, is a comfortable performer on the surface, has a grasscourt title to his name (Newport 2010) and only six other men competing here have won more singles matches on grass than him.
Last year, Fish equalled his best grand slam result by reaching the quarterfinals, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.
Later, defending champion Petra Kvitova reached the second round yesterday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, but only after surviving an early struggle.
Once Kvitova had reeled off seven successive games to take the first set and lead 2-0 in the second, the 22-year-old was comfortably in control, managing to shrug off a brief rain delay at 40-40 at 5-3 in the second set.
Also, Japan's Kei Nishikori earned his first ever win at Wimbledon as the 19th seed marked his return from injury with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
The world No. 12 beat Spain's Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 7-6 (7/1) and looked comfortable moving around the court. It was his first tournament appearance since April, when, as top seed, he fell at the first hurdle in Houston.
He had a procedure called cardiac catheter ablation in Los Angeles on May 23 to correct faulty wiring in his heart.
Fish said the arrhythmia had made it hard for him to sleep and his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He is the top American left in the draw after world No. 10 John Isner was knocked out on Monday.
During his two-hour, 37-minute match on the Court 12 show court against Ramirez-Hidalgo, the world No. 82, Fish sent down 24 aces and hit 61 winners.
He was at ease in the third set tie-break, sealing his victory with a cross-court return of serve for his first win since Miami in March.
Spanish No. 10 Ramirez-Hidalgo was the oldest player in the men's singles at 34 years and six months. Fish, by contrast, is a comfortable performer on the surface, has a grasscourt title to his name (Newport 2010) and only six other men competing here have won more singles matches on grass than him.
Last year, Fish equalled his best grand slam result by reaching the quarterfinals, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.
Later, defending champion Petra Kvitova reached the second round yesterday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, but only after surviving an early struggle.
Once Kvitova had reeled off seven successive games to take the first set and lead 2-0 in the second, the 22-year-old was comfortably in control, managing to shrug off a brief rain delay at 40-40 at 5-3 in the second set.
Also, Japan's Kei Nishikori earned his first ever win at Wimbledon as the 19th seed marked his return from injury with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
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