A day after childish antics defined the day, Mardy Fish’s performance and reason for competing will define day 3 at the US Open. Prior to the US Open Fish put himself out there to speak about his battle with crippling anxiety which cut short his career. Fish wrote on theplayerstribune.com prior to US Open “I am here to show weakness. And I am not ashamed.” This quote was indicative of his 2nd round match-up in all the best ways.
Here’s everything else you may have missed from an action packed day 3 at the US Open.
Fish Falls Short in Five
Serving at 5-4 in the fourth set already up two sets to one, it looked as though Mardy Fish was going to prolong his career at least one more match. Within in a flash he was broken at love and lost the subsequent two games to lose the set. A third set spelled disaster for a player who has been out of tennis for the past 18 months. Before long cramps set in. Fish called for the trainer multiple times but the trainer was on another court forcing Fish to take to the court barely able to move.
.@MardyFish‘s career comes to a close. “You would have had to carry me off the court.” Read: http://t.co/lUHWims1nC pic.twitter.com/zrStD8U6n0
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) September 2, 2015
While younger more fit players were retiring over the first two days due to cramping in the stifling New York heat, Fish fought on. He was immobile for the last three games of the set but you knew he wasn’t going to throw in the towel. Fish wrote before the Open that “there won’t be a sports movie ending.” He was right in that he wouldn’t be lifting a trophy or defying of odds but for Fish determined acceptance was more than enough.
Serena Leads the Charge
Serena Williams got an unexpected challenge from the 84th ranked Kiki Bertens who forced Serena into a tough first set tiebreak. If anything it was a warning sign for Serena and reminder to the US Open crowd that Serena will actually have to play tough matches he she wants to hoist this trophy. Venus also had to grind out her victory over fellow American Irina Falconi while upstart Coco Vandeweghe got flattened by the eclectic Bethanie Mattek-Sands in another All-American match-up. Vandeweghe took her frustrations out on her racquet (to the delight of the crowd) which seemed to be a theme on the ladies side of the draw.
As racket smashes go, this from CoCo Vandeweghe during the US Open is fairly impressive. https://t.co/zxLnC6vkvY — thepunterspage.com (@ThePuntersPage) September 3, 2015
Belinda Bencic, one of two women to beat Serena this year, also abused her racquet (and shed some tears) before saving two match points and winning in three sets, in what may have been the match of the day on the ladies side. Other notable victors included Madison Keys and Eugenie Bouchard, the former hoping she is finally back in track after a disastrous 2015.
The Rest of the Pack
The only seeded player on the men’s side of the draw to lose was Grigor Dimitrov (17) whose disappointing season, which included a breakup with Maria Sharapova, continued. Nadal looked very sharp in his straight set victory over Argentine Diego Schwartzman and has solidly put himself in the “don’t look now but here he comes” category. Novak Djokovic also made easy work of Andreas Haider-Maurer and even had time to get in a dance with a fan. No shot that would ever happen at Wimbledon.
