Fish fit for title defence in Atlanta
Date published :
17 Jul 2011 - 22:00:03
Top seed Mardy Fish says a week of rest for an abdominal strain has him fit to defend his title at the ATP Atlanta Championship starting on Monday.
Fish, the top-ranked American at ninth in the world, lost both of his singles rubbers a week ago as the US went down to Davis Cup defeat against Spain in Texas.
But Fish skipped a TeamTennis obligation this week and rested under doctor's orders to be ready for the start of the pre-US Open hardcourt season.
He earned the inaugural Atlanta title a year ago at the event which replaced Indianapolis on the calendar, beating Wimbledon marathon man and friend John Isner in the final.
Fish had been troubled by his abdominal strain since he was injured at Roland Garros nearly two months ago. He managed to soldier on into the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
"I've been playing a lot of matches recently with Wimbledon and Davis Cup, and I haven't had a lot of time off since I injured it," the 29-year-old said.
"I have to be smart and listen to my body. I believe I have a chance to do some great things this summer, and the only way I'll be able to do that is by taking care of my body."
South African Kevin Anderson, a semi-finalist here last year, is the second seed.
Isner is seeded third ahead of Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse and Bulgarian teenager Gregor Dimitrov.
The top four seeds all have first-round byes.
Tommy Haas, the Florida-based German, received one of three wild cards, with the other two going to Americans Robby Ginepri and Donald Young.
Ginepri once reached the ATP Top 15 and won three tournament titles, including two in Indianapolis, the event which Atlanta replaced in 2010.
Australian Lleyton Hewitt, whose ranking has now dropped to 174th, will open against a qualifier in the first round.
