Mardy Fish has had some ups and downs in his tennis career. This week in Memphis it’s all good. Fish, the American ranked second after Andy Roddick, will take on Milos Raonic, the Canadian man of the moment, in the Memphis semifinals. We caught up with Fish about tennis and everything else, including his socks.
TENNIS.com: So will you make a concerted effort not to look over at the serve speed reading when you play Raonic?
Mardy Fish: Well, that’s tough to do. I certainly feel like I’ve got a relatively big serve, so sometimes I look when I feel like I hit it well. But we’ve been watching this kid. He’s serving in the mid-140s; pretty much every serve is impressive. But with the way my health has been going, I’ve got a lot of things to think about as far as taking my time. I concentrate a lot on my breathing, just taking deep breaths and trying to feel good before every point. So I got a lot of stuff to worry about—his serve, his game—besides looking at the radar gun.
Speaking of which, how are you feeling now?
I feel great now. Every match I’ve felt better and better this week. I felt a lot better the past week or so.
What are your thoughts on Jim Courier’s announcement this week about the upcoming Davis Cup tie?
We’ve got a great team with any of the four singles guys with the two singles spots. You throw Roddick in there and any of the three guys, you’re probably going to have a pretty good team. And we’ve got the best doubles team in the world by a significant margin.
Do you think you might end up going with the team, to practice with them or such?
I’m not going to go to Chile just because of my health. If it was a little bit closer and if it was maybe on a different surface. It’s on clay and a long ways away, altitude, things like that. And living in L.A....I’ll play Delray, I’ll go home and then Indian Wells. So if I’m not playing I’ll probably stay home.
Andy Roddick, Bob Bryan and you are all married men now. How has marriage affected your friendships and your game?
It’s only helped. You got something to play for now. You sort of take on a new person and family. We’ve got a dog, and we feel like we have a family that we started. And we’ll try to have kids soon and start a family of our own. Certainly my wife has been a huge part of my success—losing the weight, helping keep me motivated, keeping me out there. I’ve been out here for a long time.
Juan Martín del Potro mentioned you’d play more doubles together this year. Your thoughts on him and his game right now?
I love Juan! He’s one of the best guys out here, one of the most laid-back guys. I’m a lot older than him. We played a few times. I remember playing him here one year. It might have been 2007 when he was still really young. He was ranked 60 in the world or so. I beat Juan like maybe 6-1, 7-6 in a tight tiebreaker. I played really well, and I thought this guy could be really, really good when I left the court. I remember that. I was happy to see his results. We played doubles in Madrid. We had a great time. So we’ll try to play again. He’s certainly one of the best players in the world and a pretty good doubles partner for me.
Why did you switch to longer socks after so many years wearing ankle socks?
Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. I feel a little bit slower with the long socks for some reason. When I twisted my ankle a bunch in the summer I had to tape my ankle and so I tape my ankles every time now and so I just wear the long socks.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve read or been asked about your weight loss?
I lost all the weight and had some good results in the summer, and I certainly feel like a different player and different person. But it was almost as if I was the worst player before I had lost the weight though I had some pretty good results. I was Top 20 a few times, I got to 17 in the world quote unquote “fat.”
You live in L.A. now. How’s it different? How do you like it?
I’m from a small town. It’s a different world out there. There’s a lot of people, a lot of traffic, a lot of cars. People are a little bit different out there as far as the way they go about their business and stuff, but I’m getting used to it. Her family’s all out there and her friends and stuff, so it’s my new family that’s out there. Feels a long way from home but I’m getting used to it.
How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
I didn’t really. We went to dinner with my trainer. My wife’s not here. Her and her sister were in Vegas, so we sent some flowers to their room.
You weren’t there in person. How are you going to make it up to your wife?
She’s got it pretty good. We threw her a pretty big 30th birthday party, so she’s good for a while.
Does she watch tennis when you’re not playing?
Oh yeah. She does watch a little bit, but she’ll watch every point of my matches.
Who are her favorite players apart from you?
That’s a good question—I don’t think she likes anyone else besides me. Hopefully she doesn’t.