Mardy Fish salutes Federer, Nadal, tees up Next Gen in US Open preview

U.S. Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish previewed the 2021 US Open through two lenses while doing press for Breaking Point, the forthcoming Netflix documentary about his battle with an anxiety disorder.

“Look, on one hand, we were looking ahead after Wimbledon and thinking, ‘Man, how epic is the US Open going to be with all three of the guys at 20 Slams?’” he said on Tuesday of the Big 3 and their three-way tie of major victories. “We all just assumed they’d all be here, battling it out for No. 21. It’s unfortunate that Roger and Rafa are injured, and that Dominic Thiem isn’t here to defend his title. I’ve won tournaments, obviously not Slams, but still, I know how much fun it is to come back to a tournament as defending champion.

“On the other hand, there’s a new generation and new crop of guys coming up, a lot of whom we saw in Cincinnati. We saw how the results shook out on the men’s side and how there’s this new sort of Top 4 outside of Novak: Andrey Rublev, Alexander  Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev. They really showed up to play the semifinals, and it’s clear those guys are the future of the game. I think the game is in good hands.”

Fish last played the US Open in 2015, having missed the previous two years before opening up about his protracted mental health struggle. A contemporary of Andy Roddick, the two spent their careers up against the likes of Federer, Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, who won his 20th major trophy at Wimbledon this summer.

At his peak, Fish was able to score wins over the likes of both Federer and Nadal en route to a career-high ranking of No. 7, win a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and make a long-awaited debut at the ATP World Tour Finals in 2011.

Though no longer on the court as a professional, Fish has taken on the challenge of mentoring the next generation of American men, many of whom are favored to make major breakthroughs in Flushing Meadows in the absence of former champions like Federer and Nadal.

“This is by no means a final farewell to Roger or Rafa, but when they do say goodbye, we’re absolutely going to miss them because they were so good for the game. It was a curse and a blessing to play at the same time as them, to say I played against the greatest players of all times 10 or 15 times each, and I lost to them quite a bit! On the other hand, there were plenty of Masters 1000 tournaments that I felt like I was playing well enough to win if they weren’t around, so there’s both to consider.”

Fish will be at the US Open to assist in the major tournament’s mental health initiatives in advance of Netflix’s September 7 release of Breaking Point.