18.04.2011 - Mardy Fish w Top-10!

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 10

Brawo Mardy!

Mardy został 4 najstarszym tenisistą, jeżeli chodzi o wiek, w którym po raz pierwszy wtargnął do Top-10. W momencie awansu do grona 10 najlepszych graczy świata Fish miał 29 lat, 4 miesiące i 9 dni.

Statystyka:

1. Tony Roche (AUS) - 30 (2 mos., 9 days) - No. 9 - July 26, 1975
2. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) - 29 (8 mos., 9 days) - No. 10 - Jan. 31, 2011
3. Alex Metreveli (RUS) - 29 (7 mos., 1 day) - No. 9 - June 3, 1974
4. Mardy Fish (USA) - 29 (4 mos., 9 days) - No. 10 - Apr. 18, 2011
5. Radek Stepanek (CZE) - 27 (7 mos., 13 days) - No. 8 - July 10, 2006
6. Jiri Novak (CZE) - 27 (6 mos., 22 days) - No. 9 - Oct. 14, 2002
7. Jan Kodes (CZE) - 27 (6 mos., 12 days) - No. 5 - Sept. 13, 1973
8. Guillermo Canas (ARG) - 27 (5 mos., 14 days) - No. 10 - May 9, 2005
9. Tom Gorman (USA) - 27 (4 mos., 12 days) - No. 10 - May 1, 1974
10.Bill Scanlon (USA) - 27 (1 mo., 27 days) - No. 9 - Jan. 9, 1984

RG 2011 - konferencja po zwycięstwie w 2 rundzie.

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/multi … 0012a.html

Wimbledon 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 1 rundzie

Mardy Fish defeated Marcel Granollers 7-6. 7-6, 6-4

Q. Do you feel any more pressure representing and playing for U.S. men, you and Andy, considering the dearth of individuals at the top?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure. You know, I mean, I'm ranked the No. 1 American. So, yeah, with it comes, you know, a little bit more pressure. And I feel it for sure. But, you know, it's where you want to be. So it's a good thing.

Q. Do you have any thoughts as to sort of why the drop off behind you guys at this point? We've been asking this question and talking about this for about a year now.
MARDY FISH: I mean, I think it's just because we're not you know, we're not competing for slams on a slam by slam basis. I think that's one of the main reasons why we get the questions. I mean, we have as many guys in the top 10 right now than any other country. You know, Spain has two, we have two, and no one else has two. So, you know, I think it's just for lack of the big events. I mean, we've all done well at Indian Wells and Miami and things like that, which are big events for us. But, you know, this is obviously another step above those.


Q. You've been coming here for a number of years now. Your game should fit into the grass. You've had some good grass court results. Can you talk about the evolution of your game on grass and what your expectations are this year?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, I feel most comfortable with my style of play on this surface, you know, and it takes some getting used to. I certainly wasn't as clean as I hope to be in the next round or rounds, as I keep going hopefully.

But, yeah, I mean, this is my best surface. I won more grass court matches than anyone else did last year. I played three events. At Wimbledon I didn't do well. I made the final of Queen's and I won Newport.
So I obviously feel pretty comfortable on this surface. This is certainly the tournament that, you know, I look at sort of my résumé of making, you know, quarterfinals in the other Grand Slams, Australia and the US Open, and this is the one that always jumps out at me to want to do well at.

Q. What makes grass your best surface? Why does your game fit it well?
MARDY FISH: Well, I feel comfortable coming to the net. I feel comfortable coming forward. They're doing a really good job of making it tough to do that, as well. You know, the balls are extremely heavy. When the sun's not out, it's very hard to really get the ball through the court, you know, minus the serve. You feel like it is still grass, obviously, so the serve still takes, the slice still takes, still moves pretty good. But it's as the balls are as heavy as any ball out there. I feel a lot more comfortable serving, if you take away the grass, a lot more comfortable serving at the French Open with those balls.

Q. Can you explain what 'heavy' means to you?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, balls get real big real quick. You know, you can't really feel your shots as good as you can as, you know, like the US Open, with those balls there. And they just get tough to hit the ball through the court. It's tough to hit winners from the baseline. Like I said, the serve still moves and still takes and you can serve well and hold serve because it's grass. It's still grass. But, uhm, you know, the grass is so good and the bounces are so pure that, you know, the balls, they're really, really heavy.

Q. Is that frustrating for a guy who likes grass?
MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure, it's frustrating. I serve and volleyed on I think almost every first serve today. But I served well and had a lot of free points on my serve, so I didn't necessarily get into a ton of rallies, have to get into a ton of rallies on my serve games. It's tough to hit the ball through the court with the forehand. You know, you got to try to generate a lot of pace, and it's hard.

Q. Do you understand why there seems to be this desire by officialdom to homogenize all the surfaces?
MARDY FISH: Not necessarily here. It's such a unique tournament, you know. It's such a unique surface. There's not a ton of tournaments you can play on grass. We can kind of get around the clay, play a couple clay court events. If you want to, you could play half a year on clay. You can't do that here. So obviously it's such a unique surface and unique event, so...

Q. I guess you consider, of the slams where you should be doing well, you consider this the one where you've underachieved the most?
MARDY FISH: Without a doubt, yes.

Q. Why is that? Is it a conditioning thing?
MARDY FISH: No, it's not a conditioning thing here. Conditioning doesn't play a huge part. Mentally I haven't nearly been as strong. I've had some bad luck.
I remember in the third round in, I think it was 2006, might have been 2007, I had to pull out of a match in the third round against a qualifier, because I was as sick as I've ever been in my life. I had to play Nadal in the first round one year. I had to play Gasquet in the first round one year when he had made the semis here year before. Obviously really good players. I've had a little bit of bad luck, and I'm ready.

Q. Istomin, your next opponent?
MARDY FISH: Yeah. I never played him. Sam has played him. Obviously sharing a coach with Sam, Nainks has seen him play I think four times in the last year, has played Sam, so we'll get a good plan.

Q. What was your reaction when you heard who Isner will be playing here? And what are your thoughts about last year and this year?
MARDY FISH: Pretty shocking, obviously. And let's hope that it doesn't happen again for their sake, because you want them to do well. I want John to do well. First and foremost, he's a tough opponent. He's a really good grass courter. Let's hope it's not a perfect storm again.

Q. What do you remember most about last year's match between them?
MARDY FISH: Just sort of it being surreal. It just kind of you just couldn't really believe what was unfolding. You knew going through, you know, when it was kind of in the 30s and 40s that it was never going to happen again; you were never going to see that again.
Yeah, so just pretty surreal. You know, you'd almost capture the moment, and I think it's a cool plaque that they have out there on Court 18.
Is the schedule out? Do they know when they're playing or where they're playing? Haven't seen it.

Q. You're not a short guy, but when you walk around the locker room these days, do you feel like the height of the players...
MARDY FISH: There's a lot of tall guys, a lot of big guys. You know, serving is a big part of today, because if you can get some free points, you know, the way they've slowed the surfaces down, it's big.

Q. Do you have to be like 6'4" to get those free points these days?
MARDY FISH: It certainly helps. You know, I mean, there's not a lot of guys in the top 10 that aren't at least six feet tall maybe besides Ferrer. Is he 6 feet tall? I mean, he's not 5'3", you know. I mean, he's the only guy that jumps out at you that doesn't require a ton of free points.

Q. Has Andy given you any c**p about out ranking him or anything?
MARDY FISH: C**p? No. I mean, he wants it back. I'm going to try to hold him off as long as I can (smiling).

Q. How strong would you say the top four seeds are here right now, given the surface, and how each one of those guys are playing?
MARDY FISH: Very strong. As far back as I can remember, it's as top heavy as you've ever seen. I mean, those guys have all the points. You know, if you look back maybe five or ten years, I think I have like around 2400 ATP points, and I don't think that would put me in the top 10. So those guys are doing well on every surface. It's not a fluke, you know, that you see the top four seeds almost every event in the semifinals, it doesn't matter where it is. Murray, any one of those guys could win the tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if any one of those guys did.

Q. How intimidating is that to everybody who is in the next group?
MARDY FISH: Well, I mean, you got to go about your business. You got to hopefully not face 'em early. And, you know, once you get there, I mean, you know, certain guys feel like they can beat 'em. You know, personally I feel like I can, especially on this surface. Murray's obviously a really tough out here just because this is one of his best surfaces and it's home. Roger's Roger and Rafa's Rafa. Djokovic is playing as well as you've ever seen anyone, as I've ever seen anyone play across the net, for sure.

Q. You talked about the serve. If you look at the top four guys, Roger can serve, Murray can hit the big one. Isn't it more of a return in baseline games outside of mental that is their strengths all around?
MARDY FISH: Their strengths, yeah. Djokovic and Murray return as well as anyone just from a serving point of view. You know, when they're across the net from me, I mean, they're the scariest ones to me. I haven't played Nadal in a little while, so, you know, I can't necessarily speak from experience with that. I haven't played him since, you know, maybe '08, quarters of the Open. Those guys I played recently, they're the ones that strike the most fear returning wise.

Q. You spoke earlier about the dearth of players or the perceived dearth of top American men players to follow you guys. When the Williams sisters are not around, as they weren't the last year or so for the most part on the women's side, how different do you perceive the women's tour without the Williams sisters?
MARDY FISH: I mean, it's always wide open, it seems like. You know, it's great to have them back because, you know, just missing them at the French Open, besides Sam, I was the only seeded player. We missed Andy obviously there, too. You know, they're always missed. I mean, they're such big personalities, you know, you can tell when they're there and you can tell when they're not there. You know, so with the exception of Bethanie, I mean, I feel like we're kind of struggling on that side, you know, minus them. And when they're not there, you can really feel it.

Q. Did you see Venus' outfit today?
MARDY FISH: I didn't. I didn't see it. I was playing.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/int … 02916.html

Wimbledon 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 3 rundzie

M. Fish bt R. Haase 6 3, 6 7, 6 2, 1 1 (ret.)

Q. How does it feel to be the last American male standing?

MARDY FISH: Same as the French, right, I think. It's lonely. It doesn't feel great. And that's not the goal.

You know, I want the guys here. So that's a bit of a bummer, I guess.

Q. Someone suggested that last year you looked at the draw and it seemed so favourable for you that maybe you in essence psyched yourself out. Could you address that in retrospect?

MARDY FISH: I think last year at this time I was I think maybe seven or eight weeks into a trip. It's a really long time to be away from home. You know, usually I'm out of the French Open by the first couple days, so I have time to get home and then get to Queen's. And this time was a little different.

You know, last year I was spent. Obviously I had worked so hard in that off season, the beginning of the year, to get healthy. And I had just made the finals of Queen's. That was pretty much my only result that whole year.

So I didn't know what was on the horizon for me. So I was still a little unsure of where I was going, how it was going to work, how all the hard work I was putting in was going to unfold.

Much different this year. Yeah, last year, yeah, I had a pretty good draw. But, you know, it's nice to sort of be the guy, you know, when you step on the court, you're supposed to win. That's a good feeling. That's the spot you want to be in.

Q. Today matches are delayed, you get put on Court 14. You drop the second set. How do you make sure it doesn't get out of control?

MARDY FISH: I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on the match. I haven't seen the stats, but I had a ton of breakpoints. I don't remember many more than three or maybe even four at the most that I had against me.

I've only lost serve one time this whole tournament. So I felt like, you know, even through that spot I still hadn't lost serve.

You know, bummer to lose that 5 All game. I had maybe six or seven breakpoints in that game, you know. It's one of those things where you just kind of keep throwing darts at the wall and eventually something's going to stick.

He hit a dropshot there in the third set to give me the break early, kind of switched the momentum a little bit, if it did switch over at all. I felt like I really had a fine grasp on it, though.

Q. Do you worry about which court you play? Serena, obviously defending champion, was distressed because of Court 2. Does it matter to you?

MARDY FISH: I mean, you want to play on the big courts, certainly. I like that Court 2. What Serena doesn't understand is maybe she does she certainly deserves to be on Centre Court, there's no doubt about that. But when they put her out there, people can't usually get that close to her and to see one of the best players of all time on the women's side play that closely, you know.

I can certainly understand where she's coming from. I wouldn't put her on Court 2. I'd put her on Centre every time probably, just to save the harassment afterwards, I guess (smiling). Don't want to pick a fight with her.

Q. Do you feel you are maximizing your talent at this stage of your career?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, I can say that. I sleep a lot better than I used to just knowing I can sort of put my head down, knowing that I'm doing everything I can, hitting a lot of goals that I've wanted to hit throughout my career now.

So, yeah, I feel pretty comfortable about the choices that I make and the decisions that I make. You know, I got a little heat for going home and not going to Queen's.

I don't worry about making the right or wrong choices anymore. I really feel like, you know, I can lean one way or the other, whichever way I'm feeling, and be okay.

In past years, you know, I really would have questioned, you know, if I didn't go to Queen's maybe and just came to Wimbledon straightaway a few years ago, I probably would have questioned even myself. I can't question it now.

You know, I'm pretty comfortable with knowing how to play tennis now. I know my limitations better than ever and also feel like I can play some pretty good tennis at times.

Q. Was there a moment, looking back, that's clear to you now when you really felt strongly that you weren't maximizing things, you really had to change something?

MARDY FISH: That's tough to say. It really is. Just because, you know, I certainly didn't plan to have the knee surgery and then have that time off, you know, before it happened obviously. So it's tough to answer that.

You know, it sounds like one of those 'Do you regret' kind of things.

Q. In what ways do you benefit going home and being home between the French and here?

MARDY FISH: Just sleeping in your own bed for 10 days in a row says a lot. I think you just kind of regroup mentally, as well, because it's such a long year. Nights before matches that I play, I mean, I don't sleep that well. You know, you get very nervous. You don't eat well in the morning, things like that.

To be away from all that, even for a few days, is big.

Q. A number of Americans have had their best success earlier in their career, Courier, Chang, Andy. You're coming on now. You had the good summer, the Colombia success, top 10. How is it feeling now? Are you saying to yourself, Well done? Is there a certain satisfaction?

MARDY FISH: I can appreciate it better. You know, we played the Davis Cup final in '04, and I was 22 I think at the time. I definitely didn't really understand sort of the place that I was at. I was lucky to be on the team at that point. I was 35 in the world, kind of falling a little bit in the rankings.

So I don't think I really could step back away from everything and say, Wow, I'm playing in the finals of Davis Cup in front of 23,000 people, whatever it was, setting the record there against Moya in the first match. I mean, I don't think I could really get a grasp on that.

I feel like I can now. I feel like it's much more satisfying, to answer your question, just because I can appreciate all the ups and downs that I've gone through. This is certainly an up for me now. I have no idea how long, you know, it will last. Hope it lasts for a while.

Q. Was it a matter of sort of not really understanding full picture the impact or the meaning? Was it a matter of youth or that you were so talented that it came easily?

MARDY FISH: A little bit of all that. Immaturity. Yeah, just youth. You know, probably thinking it's like one of those rookies that wins the Super Bowl in the first year, he thinks it's that easy, and he never goes back again the rest of his career.

We won in '07, and I was there, but I wasn't on the team, so it's not the same. It wasn't the same thing.

Q. And you were close to Andy, too, who was kicking butt.

MARDY FISH: Yeah. And he handled his career, that part of his career, way better than I did. He had a lot more game and a lot more stuff to work with than I did, as well.

Q. When you and Stacey are out in Los Angeles, which one of you gets recognized more when you're out together?

MARDY FISH: We don't get recognized much at all anyways. Probably me, I guess.

Q. Is that part of what you enjoy about being willing to make that plane ride back and forth?

MARDY FISH: Yeah. We have a dog. We kind of feel like we have a family a little bit. She's kind of like a child for us.

Q. What kind of dog?

MARDY FISH: She's a Dachshund, a wiener dog, a hot dog. It's hopefully the start of our family. She's pretty spoiled.

She's pretty spoiled. She has a person living at our house now taking care of her. It was nice to win today so we can pay for that.

Q. This is the first time you've gone into the second week here.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it's the first time that I'll be around sort of tomorrow on the day off, which I'm excited about. We made the semis in doubles one year. That's a little different.

Q. Looking at that match, I know he's very good, reached the final last year, big server, but opportunity for you. It's not Rafa. It's not Roger.

MARDY FISH: Well, that's why you put yourself in that 9 through 12 spot where you don't have to play the 1 through 4 in this position. It sounds funny to say, because I've never been in this position before here at this tournament, but now that I am, you know, it kind of affords you that luxury.

But, you know, minus Andy, the 5 through 8 guys, he's probably the toughest one of those two. You know, he's pretty comfortable. Seems like he's pretty comfortable right now here. Brought back probably a lot of good memories for him now. He seems to be rolling.

I haven't seen off the top of my head all his results, but I think he went through in straight sets all the time pretty comfortably. Hopefully it's another level for him he'll have to go up, and we'll see if he can.

Q. You're going to get some pretty decent prize money. What are you going to get your dog to celebrate?

MARDY FISH: A couple bones, I guess. I don't know. She's pretty spoiled. She's got a lot of stuff already. She's very L.A.

Q. When you were growing up, did you ever think you'd actually hire a dog sitter to stay at your house?

MARDY FISH: I don't know. Probably. I don't know. Like I said, she's got a pretty good life, this dog.

Q. Talk about the match today. Did you have any idea Robin was in distress? There seemed to be so much talking going on between him and the chair, you and the chair, him to himself.

MARDY FISH: Like I said before, it's a pretty noisy place. There's not a ton of stands. People kind of sit on top of you. You almost can't breathe a little bit.

Security guards are moving around when you're serving. It's sort of an uncomfortable court to play on. It's very noisy. Brad Gilbert from up above yelling down to Patrick like during the thing. It's like, I can hear you.

Q. Is that when Robin turned around?

MARDY FISH: No, that was somebody else. I'd love for that to be Brad, but that was something else.

Q. Is that something that as a younger player would have shaken you up?

MARDY FISH: Yeah. You try not to let it go on too much. We're human beings. It's a long match. We played three hours, three and a half sets, and we still weren't done. So, you know, so many dips and valleys in every match.

If you win a match, I think you've won 51% of the points pretty much. I mean, you're losing 49% of the points even if you're winning the match. There's a lot of downs in a three out of five set match. The best way you can handle it is probably best.

Q. What was Brad yelling?

MARDY FISH: He was yelling, P Mac.

It's like, Bees, we can hear you. We see you (laughter).

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/int … 47402.html

Wimbledon 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 4 rundzie

M. Fish bt T. Berdych 7 6, 6 4, 6 4

Q. How does it feel to be the last American standing?

MARDY FISH: Last last. Again, I mean, it's not what you set out to do, you know. It was I guess bad luck for the Williams sisters to lose. Unfortunate, I guess. They'll be back, I'm sure.

Q. What are your thoughts on being this far along in the tournament right now and what is your level of excitement about it?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it feels great. I mean, this is obviously a huge tournament for me. Suits my game probably better than any other tournament for me Grand Slam wise.

You know, so I felt like maybe it's one of those ones that I really wanted to do well at. You know in the quarterfinals. Feels great again. I'll have another tough one, for sure.

Q. You look at your results on grass recently and how you feel about it, do you think, Why did it take me this long?

MARDY FISH: I've had good success on grass in my career, but just never here. And I've had success in a lot of tournaments, but not really in slams. I think the three out of five thing has a lot to do with it.

I think, you know, the big guys are tough outs in three out of five. Two out of three I've beaten a lot of guys, but not three out of five. That's maybe my first top 10 win in a Grand Slam. They're hard to come by.

Q. You seem real measured, almost mellow. Do you feel like screaming like crazy inside?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, I mean, maybe it hasn't sunk in yet. I don't know. This is, you know, the one that you look forward to, this and the US Open, every year to do well at.

You know, it's different. This is much different than '08 US Open for me. I feel a lot different. I feel like a completely different player. So I'm hoping it doesn't end.

Q. If I'm not mistaken, you've only been broken once in your serve in four rounds. Did you see that coming?

MARDY FISH: I mean, look, I've gone through some runs in my career where I've served well. I think at one point I broke a record, Pete's record, that was broken numerous times by Roddick and then Federer, I think multiple people.

But I think it was maybe 90 something in a row I'll have to ask Sharko through Cincinnati and through the US Open. So I've had success on my serve, gone through matches without losing serve. This is probably one of the best serving days I've had.

I also served really well in the first round. I didn't have a breakpoint against me in the first round as well.

Q. Against him though today I guess returning somewhat important.

MARDY FISH: Yeah, sure. I mean, he's coming from another angle. I mean, he's a big guy. Tosses the ball real high. He gets up there high. I mean, when he hits his spots you don't know where he's going. You know, you're sort of guessing. Sort of have a small inclination where he wants to go on the big points. He likes the slider, this and that.

He hit the T serve as well on the deuce side. You know, sort of one of those things where you just try to take your opportunities when they come. I think for the most part he gave me that last break with the forehand volley thing that he tried. He would probably like to have that one back. Took advantage of most of my opportunities.

Q. How does it feel to be the Lone Ranger?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it's not what you set out to do. You know, being the highest ranked American, I guess on both sides now, comes a pretty high responsibility. You know, as I said before, people are watching. You feel like people are watching more than before, especially with me.

Q. Not to get personal, but John McEnroe said that somehow Andy's marriage might be a distraction or detrimental. In the past you said your relationship and marriage has been a real help. Can you just talk about that as a factor in your career.

MARDY FISH: It's given me a whole 'nother lease on life, period. I mean, that's one of the reasons why you play. That's one of the reasons why Andy's still playing. I think it's completely unwarranted. It's not a great comment to talk about wives. You should probably stay away from the wives.

I mean, you know, I love Brooklyn. I love them to death, so I'll stick up for them, especially when it comes from a place, you know, that might not know the ins and outs of their relationship.

I know them as well as I know anybody, so, you know, that's tough to take, I guess.

Q. Some guys are good at playing someone for the first time. Do you feel like you're a good first meeting player or not in your career?

MARDY FISH: Maybe, yeah. I don't know. That would be interesting. That would be another question for Sharko.

But, you know, we've practiced a lot. I've never played him, obviously. He takes some cuts at the ball, boy. He was playing at a real high level for the first set. You know, you're trying to feel each other out a little bit probably, having never played.

You know, he likes to see the ball and hit it hard. I don't think I was prepared as well for that type of style. You know, I mean, I thought maybe you can get in a couple rallies and things like that.

But it played quick. The humidity made it play pretty quick. Definitely the fastest conditions we've had here.

Q. Looking forward, what would be the best conditions for you come Wednesday?

MARDY FISH: Hot. Yeah, hot. Hot, quick, humid. I think it's going to turn again.

But if it's slow and cold, I got a lot of aches and pains sometimes, too, that don't warm up as good. And I felt good today. I feel great now physically and mentally, so it feels good.

Q. In 2003 you were the only one who took a set off of Federer when he won the tournament. Many years have been passed.

MARDY FISH: That's an archive there.

Q. Do you still remember that?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, 2003, Centre Court, third set, 6 4. I remember. 6 3 maybe.

Q. As someone who follows the Lakers and NBA, is it sort of odd to see Sasha standing around as part of an entourage here?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, it's a little different. One of the nicest guys I've ever come across. Actually had a text from him just now that said, Good job.

I was going to go on the Friday before I was going to play an exhibition and it ended up raining. I was going to go watch him practice because he practices here almost every day. I was going to go with him and show him my shot (smiling).

Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to have him around. Especially such a good guy.

Q. He seems to be a magnet. People from all countries are coming up and slapping his back and talking to him. Is that what you're talking about?

MARDY FISH: He's extremely friendly, yeah. You know, and athletes look up to other athletes. He plays in the NBA, you know. I've seen him play for the Lakers a ton, so, you know, obviously you know who he is.

You hope that all those guys that you watch and know, you know, you hope they're good guys. Turns out he is.

Q. When you were Roddick's teammate in high school, what kind of game did you bring on the court?

MARDY FISH: I was like a two guard. I kind of stayed behind of three point line. Didn't do much of anything. Didn't really make any spots. Didn't play that good at defense. No, I wasn't very good.

Andy was like the motor. He'd defend, rebound. We'd pay him not to shoot, so...

Q. Did you hear from Andy or any of the other guys before your match?

MARDY FISH: Yeah. I mean, these guys are my best friends, some of my best friends in the world. You know, you develop relationships out here. I've been out here for a long time. Isner, James, Sam, Andy, Robbie who is coming back now.

Q. You heard from all those guys?

MARDY FISH: Yeah. These guys are some of my best friends. If I'm not hearing from them, I'm not hearing from anybody.

Q. Sounds like Rafa is not too interested in visiting Austin, Texas.

MARDY FISH: This guy has a pretty hectic schedule. I'm not sure how I would feel if I won the French Open, had hopes of winning Wimbledon, could easily do both, and then have to go travel across the world to play on a completely different surface and then come back again. You know, where are your breaks?

It's not surprising. I like Rafa a lot. I respect the heck out of him. So I'm sure his decisions are pretty good.

Q. Do you think it's a tough decision for him, because he comes from a country where tennis matters a lot and they're used to him playing?

MARDY FISH: I think he's smart enough to realize what goes into preDavis Cups and things like that. You sell tickets with people's names on it. I think he knows that. I think he knows the in and outs of the tournaments and of Davis Cups and how big his name is and how much he can pull.

I'm sure, of course, he wants to be there. Of course.

Q. If Rafa does come through, how do you get in a mindset against a guy you've never beaten on a really big stage?

MARDY FISH: That's a good question. You know, you can't go out there thinking you can't win. That's one. We know that.

But I've never been past this spot in a Grand Slam. Past this spot is where I want to be, where you set your goals for. So game plan wise we'll come up with something. A lot of it's mental. I mean, these guys, you know, he's got ten Grand Slams pretty recently.

So half the battle is walking out there believing you can win, and I'll definitely do that.

Q. Most people like him. He's considered to be a good guy. Ten slams and all that. But there is criticism that he tends to take too much time on court. Talk about your feelings with that.

MARDY FISH: I take a lot of time, as well. I think, you know, you get in a rhythm and you want to be as comfortable as you can on the court. There are certainly guys you play that you know are fast players.

Andy is one of them that plays extremely fast. Doesn't even wait till the changeover. I'm more of Rafa's side a little bit in that I like to take my time. I like to think about everything.

You know, then you have the superstitions, where you put the water bottles, where you get the balls back on the changeovers, and things like that.

Q. You've been to this stage before in a slam, but not here. Have you learned anything from past experiences that might help you this week, do you think?

MARDY FISH: I hope so. Certainly, like I said before, I certainly feel not really unbelievably happy to be here. I feel like it's not a complete upset that I'm in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam at least inside from my point of view. That's all that really matters, I guess.

So it feels a lot different. You know, we'll come up with a game plan and we'll go into the match on Wednesday thinking I can make the semifinals of Wimbledon.

Q. Talk about when you're playing later in the day and everywhere you look upsets seem to be brewing, many of which come to pass. How aware are you of that? What does that do for you as you're waiting?

MARDY FISH: Not too aware. You know, you're kind of watching matches. You know, we watched the López/Kubot match a little bit. I saw that López ended up winning, which is surprising. Warming up at 12:30 and not going on till 5:00, that's the hard part. You want to play so bad.

You're not too aware of what the people are talking about on the grounds. You don't really have much idea of that.

Q. You spoke briefly about the mental challenge in facing Nadal. From a strictly tactical and style point of view, what to you is the biggest challenge for your game against his? He just won the third set.

MARDY FISH: Well, I think it's not having him take you out of your style of play. I know my style can be successful on these courts. One of the things that these guys get you to do and Berdych is the same way is it kind of gets you out of exactly how you want to play.

You know, sometimes Rafa can play defense very well, and so you don't attack as much as you probably should. Or, you know, Andy Murray or Djokovic move so well or return so well that you over serve, things like that. You want to, I guess, try to stay within yourself.

I'll go into the match knowing my limitations but trying to play as good as I can, 'cause I'll certainly need to.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/int … 43152.html

04.07.2011

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#16) Atlanta 2011

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