Mardy Fish landed a spot in London but hobbled out of Paris in the process.
The No. 7 seed qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals before he stepped on court at the Paris Masters today, and had a leg up on Juan Monaco, holding a pair of match points in the second-set tie breaker. But Fish misfired on a pair of forehands and saw the stubborn Argentine fight back to force a decisive set. Three games later, Fish, who took treatment for an apparent left hamstring strain that had nagged him into retiring from Basel last week, felt his movement restricted and pulled the plug, as Monaco advanced to the quarterfinals, 1-6, 7-6 (6), 1-2, retired.
It was a painful conclusion to a day that began as a career breakthrough for the 29-year-old American, with Tomas Berdych defeating Janko Tiparevic—thereby eliminating the bespectacled Serb from London contention and enabling Fish to secure a spot in the season-ending event for the first time in his career. Flying high in the first set, Fish was flattened by the third.
Lying flat on his back with a towel over his face as the ATP trainer rubbed ointment onto his left leg during the first changeover of the final set, Fish had to be concerned over his fitness for London. Grimacing even more after accidentally dabbing some of the heat rub into his right eye, Fish arose to play one more point before shaking his head and walking to net to shake Monaco's hand.
That tame ending contrasted with a torrid start—after surrendering serve to start the match, Fish reeled off six straight games to seize the opening set in 22 minutes. Monaco did little to help his own cause, committing 11 errors, most off his backhand. Attacking net aggressively, Fish won 21 of the last 25 points in the set and appeared to be in complete command.
A grinder who can't find the court is as serviceable as a GPS with no sense of direction, but to his credit, Monaco refused to throw a pity party, cutting down on his unforced errors, playing to Fish's occasionally flaky forehand more frequently and backing up his serve better: Monaco won 30 of 36 points played on his serve in the second set after a hideous five-for-17 performance on serve in the opener.
Neither player produced a break point in the second set. Playing exquisite angled volleys and benefiting with a mini-break when his opponent badly butchered a backhand volley, Fish opened a 6-4 lead in the breaker. But his forehand failed him on the first match point, and Monaco pulled out a biting body serve to save the second. When Fish flatlined another forehand into net, the 34th-ranked Argentine had set point. Stretching Fish with a poking backhand, Monaco took the set when Fish's sharply angled backhand strayed wide.
Coming off his first final of the year in Valencia last Sunday, Monaco will meet either Roger Federer or Richard Gasquet for a semifinal spot, while Fish hopes to heal in time for London.
—Richard Pagliaro