Fish rolls through first round

He showed why he is his nation's top men's player by drubbing his opening German foe in straight sets.

By NEWS SERVICES

August 30, 2011 at 5:49AM
Mardy Fish celebrated after beating Tobias Kamke.
Mardy Fish celebrated after beating Tobias Kamke. (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

NEW YORK - An all-American men's U.S. Open final cannot be cavalierly dismissed just yet. Though the odds are heavily against it, Mardy Fish kept hope alive by sailing through his first-round match Monday.

Since the other two Yanks in the top half of the draw -- 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and 30-year-old journeyman Michael Yani -- both lost in straight sets, it is left for Fish to hold up his end of the deal. All of the other 11 U.S. men in the tournament are in the opposite half of the bracket and will commence play Tuesday.

Their chances are even more remote than those of Fish, the Minnesota native who at 29 has emerged as tennis' Captain America. Now 30 pounds lighter than before a 2009 knee operation, he is seeded higher -- at No. 8 -- than in his previous 10 Opens and was awarded the honor of playing the tournament's first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He responded by pummeling Tobias Kamke, a 25-year-old German ranked 92nd, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

"This is probably the biggest tournament I've ever played," Fish said, with the highest expectations. Now that he has passed No. 21 Andy Roddick, the 2003 Open champ and top-ranked American for a decade, Fish is having "a ton of fun" with his new circumstance.

"But sometimes I feel I'm playing with house money a little bit," he said, "just because I would never have imagined, two years ago, to be in this position."

Still, two Americans have not dueled for the Open crown -- men or women -- since 2002, when Pete Sampras defeated Andre Agassi and Serena Williams beat her sister Venus, a streak likely to continue.

Most of the other seeds to play Monday advanced, too, with a notable exception. Petra Kvitova, seeded fifth after beating Maria Sharapova for the Wimbledon women's title, failed to follow it up, flopping at the U.S. Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss to 48th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru.

Kvitova is the first reigning Wimbledon women's champion to lose her first match at the U.S. Open in the same season. Only three times had the Wimbledon winner bowed out as early as the third round in New York: Sharapova in 2004, Conchita Martinez in 1994 and Billie Jean King in 1973.

"This is something new for me," Kvitova, a 21-year-old from the Czech Republic, said about her new status as Grand Slam champion. "I've felt a little pressure."

Third-seeded Sharapova had trouble, too, coming back from a set and a break down against 19-year-old Heather Watson to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, improving to 12-0 this year in matches that went the distance.

"No matter what the situation is, I have the belief," Sharapova said after her 2 1/2-hour victory.

Venus Williams played her first match in two months and beat 91st-ranked Vesna Dolonts 6-4, 6-3. In the day's last match, Roger Federer beat 54th-ranked Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to collect his 224th victory in Grand Slam play, tying Andre Agassi for second-most in the Open era.

about the writer

about the writer

NEWS SERVICES