Mardy Fish did not suffer a muscle tear in his hamstring during his first-round match against James Blake in Basel, TENNIS.com has learned. Fish, who retired in the second game of the match, is in eighth in the points race to reach the ATP World Tour Finals in London. The Top 8 qualify for the season-ending tournament. He is currently rehabbing the injury and hoping to play in the tour’s final regular-season event next week, the Paris/Bercy Masters 1000.
Fortunately for Fish, the two players who are chasing him for the final spot, Nicolas Almagro and Janko Tipsarevic, both lost their first-round matches this week. Fish will still be in eighth place entering Paris, where he will receive a bye and automatically gain 10 points. In order to catch Fish, Almagro and Tipsarevic must at least reach the Paris final.
Juan Martin del Potro, Gael Monfils and Andy Roddick, who also have a chance of catching Fish, are in action this week, but all will need huge results in the next two weeks to pass the American, who is hoping to reach the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time is his career. Del Potro will have to win Valencia and reach the Paris semis—or depending on what he does this week, may need to win Paris. Monfils needs to win Valencia and reach the Paris final, but may possibly have to win Paris. Roddick has to win Basel and Paris and hope Fish doesn’t win two matches there.