MONTREAL, Canada—Who will take advantage of the battered bottom half of the Montreal draw? It could be Mardy Fish, a regular in the later rounds of summer hard-court events for the past two years. He's into the semifinals after defeating Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-0.
You'll immediately notice the bagel third set, even more striking when you consider the way Fish dropped the second set: In a close tiebreaker, during which he squandered two match points. But this is old hat to Fish in Montreal; on Thursday, he beat Ernests Gulbis in three sets after letting five match points pass by. Trailing 5-2 in the final set, the Latvian served with a carefree attitude in wiping away a handful of match-ending chances. Naturally, after he pulled off the amazing hold, he returned to his typically irritable state, exchanging displeasantries with anyone who'd listen and trying to mangle his racquet. Fish ignored it all and comfortably held serve, surviving one of tennis' ultimate tests.
Fish did the same thing today, erasing his missed opportunities from memory as quickly as he closed out Wawrinka. We've written about plenty about Fish lately and know the weapons he possesses, none bigger than his first serve. On the quick hard courts of Montreal, he's using that shot to great effect and proving that last year was no fluke—and that his reign as the top American man might be a lengthy one.
This is now fish's fifth Masters semifinal, but he's still looking for his first title at this level. If he can dismiss those shortcomings in the same way he's wiped away match points over the last past two rounds, maybe this is week where Fish finally gets that big catch.
—Ed McGrogan