Mardy Fish Wins First Round of Atlanta Tennis Championships

ATLANTA -- American Mardy Fish has made the finals in two of the last three events he's played in. He won the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport and lost in the finals in London at the Queen's Club to Sam Querrey. His second-round loss at Wimbledon aside, Fish is playing excellent tennis lately.

"I want to keep the momentum going, for sure," Fish said after beating James Ward in the first round of The Atlanta Tennis Championships on Monday, 6-1, 6-2.

"It's a new surface and it's important to realize that I am not on grass anymore. I did have a successful grass-court season but that's behind us," Fish explained further.

Monday's win marked the sixth win in a row for Fish, who won more matches than any other player on tour during the grass-court season. And those wins carry with them extra confidence as the tour transitions into its hard-court season.

"You take a lot of confidence in that," said Fish. "I've put a lot of hard work to be in the position that I am in now. I feel good. I feel great and it's great to back in Atlanta . It feels good to be back on American soil and back on hard courts."

"I've put a lot of hard work to be in the position that I am in now. I feel good. I feel great and it's great to back in Atlanta . It feels good to be back on American soil and back on hard courts."
-- Mardy Fish On a number of occasions during the just-under six minutes that Fish spoke to reporters, he mentioned that this was the time of year that was best for the Americans. When Americans are on clay they think about the grass season, said Fish. When they are on grass, they think about hard courts. And according to him, the transition isn't terribly difficult.

"I think it's the easiest transformation to make," said Fish on moving from grass to hard courts. "It's not unbelievably easy to move on those surfaces. The clay is pretty slippery and the grass is tough to get your footing all the time. It's nice to be on a sure footing surface."

The way Fish handled Ward in straight sets makes it appear that he's already made the transition. But Fish knows there is still work to be done. he's been putting a lot of effort into his service game, in particular his first serves. On Monday it showed.

"I feel like I'm an aggressive-style player. For me to play my best tennis I need free points on my serve," said Fish who won 84 percent of his first-serve points. "For that to happen it helps to make your first serve."

It also helps to have nine aces and to have his knee troubles well in the past.

Fish admitted that his knee bothered him in January and February. But since Delray Beach, his knee hasn't been an issue. "I've put in some good results and won a lot of matches [since late February]. The knee is definitely behind me."

Blake says he's 100 percent healthy

James Blake admitted on Monday that he hasn't been healthy for quite some time.

"I've been kind of dealing with a knee injury for longer than I'd like to admit and it's something that's been bothering me," said Blake. "Now it's the first time in over a year that I've felt 100 percent healthy."

Blake, for the past few weeks has been able to train at full speed and has been able to work out for as long as he wants, both on the court and in the gym.

"I'm excited to be like that and feel like I'm a little younger again," said Blake. "Hopefully that will translate to success because I know that affects you when you go out on the court and you haven't had the same kind of training."

Blake and John Isner teamed up to play Robby Ginepri and Ryan Sweeting in the first round of the doubles draw in Atlanta. While Blake looked to be trying a few shots that weren't typically in his arsenal, and Isner had some trouble serving, they still won 3-6, 6-4, 10-3 in a super tiebreaker.

Blake said before the match that he and Isner didn't have a strategy heading into the match and that they would work it out on the court. That might be why it seemed to take a while for the two to get on the same page. But it was apparent that they were having fun, which was one of Blake's goals, in addition to winning.

"Both of us think that it's helpful for singles," said Blake. "It's a lot of fun when you're playing with someone you like and you can have some success."

Blake also said that he knows Isner usually teams up with Sam Querrey to play doubles. But with Querrey absent from the Atlanta Tennis Championships Blake approached Isner about playing. And he only had one test for Isner to pass.

"I have a height requirement," joked Blake with a smile. "John just passed it."

Atlanta's first upset

Eighth seed and 67th-ranked Benjamin Becker fell in straight sets to American Michael Russell, who is currently ranked 89th in the world, 6-3, 6-3. Becker never looked in sync during the match and had terrible troubles with his backhand. It didn't matter what pace Russell put on the ball, if it went to Becker's backhand, he had trouble with the shot.

Becker also had serving issues as only 39 percent of his first serves were successful. The German had seven double faults on Monday which greatly contributed to his straight set loss.