Fish lifts America's hope after Roddick's exit at U.S. Open
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As the top U.S. player Andy Roddick was ousted in the second round a day earlier, the 28-year-old Minnesota native Mardy Fish was on his way to being remembered for something far more significant at Flushing Meadow.
Fish dispatched Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas in straight sets 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 in front of a raucous, pro-American crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Thursday, into the last 32, posing a deep run in the 2010 US Open.
"This is the spot that I want to be in," said Fish. "You want to be the favorite and winning a lot."
Fish, potentially the best American left in the men's field after Andy Roddick's shocking second round defeat, cruised to victory after a relatively sluggish start.
The only trouble he had with Cuevas was a back-and-forth first set, which saw the number 19 seed rally from two breaks down to take the set 7-5.
Cuevas, like first round loser Jan Hajek to Fish, had been struggling to answer for Fish's powerful serve, which topped out at 134 mph. Whenever Fish found himself in trouble, he would reach back and find an ace up his sleeve, 14 of them to be exact.
"You know, he started out great, really sort of uncharacteristic to what I thought he was going to play like," said Fish of the 24-year-old Cuevas.
"I never played him, practiced with him, played him in doubles, none of that, or seen him play all that much."
"I knew he was sort of a typical slow court player, and he took to the hardcourts really well in the beginning. I was sort of surprised how aggressive he was playing. So I kind of fought hard to stay just a break down, to be honest, in that first set."
Fish weathered the storm, fighting off two separate triple-break points during the match to come back and win games, much to Cuevas's charge. Overall, Cuevas converted just one of 15 break points.
Fish will meet his countryman Arnaud Clement in the third round as the latter's opponent Eduardor Schwank had to retire in 6-3, 5-5 after twisting ankle.
Talking about the match against Fish, Clement said: "He's playing unbelievable this tournament. I know it's gonna be very difficult, but you know I was supposed to lose the first round (against Baghdatis seeded 16) here, now I'm third round."
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