SAN JOSE — There’s something to be said for getting distracted by gamesmanship and Mardy Fish said it all off court after his 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Radek Stepanek in the final of the SAP Open.
He was unable to regain his focus after the 30-year-old Czech took a medical time out ahead 3-2 in the second set and didn’t say much at all on court. His level began to dip, while a mentally refreshed Stepanek’s rose and for the 10th time in 12 finals, Fish went home a loser.
“I played every set this week about as a good as I could against a lot of good players,” said Fish, who defeated Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Martin Del Potro and the his close friend, James Blake, en route to the final. “It was the worst set I played all week. Everything started to run away. You stop moving, get a little tight and think, ‘I’m so close to winning this.’ To say it doesn’t creep into your mind that you remember some of the losses you have in finals — it’s a lot of losses.”
Fish said he played better in the first two sets than in many other finals, but in the third he began thinking about the finish line and it seemed so far away.
“It’s getting in [my head],” he said.
Despite the fairly international field, the tournament took on a distinctly American feel heading toward the weekend, with Davis Cup buddies Fish, Blake and two-time defending champ Andy Roddick reaching the semis.
But instead of completing their so-called Davis Cup playoff in thrilling fashion, Fish watched his buddy limp through their match. Blake injured his right ankle at the end of his quarterfinal victory over Sam Querrey (also a Davis Cup playoff of sorts), and after the first set against Fish, he took a medical timeout to have it treated again. He could barely move to his left and could only stride a few painful steps to his right in a 6-3, 6-2 loss. Blake has to be credited for gutting it out, especially online casino because he’s never retired from a singles contest. He didn’t want his friend to have a hollow victory. “I know it’s tough for Mardy to play someone like that, especially a friend, but he did a good job, made enough balls and he deserves to be in the final,” Blake said.
Fish was looking forward to facing his boyhood nemesis Roddick in the final, whom he’s 1-9 against, but the inventive Stepanek shocked America’s top male player 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Stepanek reached his second straight San Jose final, beating Roddick for the first time in five meetings and avenging his ‘08 loss. ”It was a little revenge from last year,” the Czech said.
Roddick played brilliantly for much of the first set and half, passing with precision, whipping serves and putting his big forehand to good use. But the Czech hung tough and once he began to spot his serve better, he took over the net and smartly moved Roddick around the backcourt by mixing speed, spins, angles and depth. The court doesn’t allow for high bounces and Stepanek kept the ball extremely low and it forced Roddick to hit up.
The American usually loves his position in tiebreakers, as he’s able to flame in big serves and take risk on his returns, but he can began to fall off his game and he lost his cool. After he missed a backhand to go down 6-3, Roddick whipped his racket at the ground and watched Stepanek close out the tiebreaker with a service winner.
The third set was even more harrowing. Even though he was clearly not at his best, Roddick had multiple break opportunities and he chided himself for a lack of accuracy. “As badly as I executed, I think he did a pretty good job,” Roddick said. “He puts in first serves, volleys in the corners, comes in on the right shots and stays there mentally. He does the basics well.”
Fish suffered much the same fate as Roddick.
After a terrific first set and a half, in which he served huge and took over the net, his groundstrokes began to fray at the edges, especially on his forehand side.
After the Czech — who Tim Henman once said was one of the most hated players on tour — took his controversial medical TO, Fish’s mind began to wander. The American was sure the Czech was employing gamesmanship.
“I didn’t think it was an injury at all,” said Fish, who said that he might confront Stepanek in the locker room over the issue. “He seemed fine to me. I would have been shocked if I was up a set and he didn’t call the trainer. It’s par for the course for him. You know what to expect. It’s unfortunate. It’s tough because he’s a good enough player where you have to worry about him. Then to have to not get upset with that and play against him is pretty tough.”
Stepanek denied the charge, even though he has a notorious reputation for calling the trainer when he’s in trouble. “I didn’t do it on purpose to destroy his rhythm,” Stepanek said. “I was protecting myself from getting injured.” That just might be the first time ever that a player has been allowed to take a medical timeout before an injury occurs.
In the third set, Fish fried himself and he couldn’t keep a ball in play. He began to litter the court with unforced errors from the baseline, while the Czech played smooth and steady, at one point winning 10 consecutive points. He broke Fish at love to go ahead 4-2 and won the contest with a forehand volley. Fish called him one of the ultimate “tennis players” a guy who doesn’t rely on power to win matches.
Stepanek won his second title of the year along with Brisbane and the fourth of his career. The 30-year-old became the first Czech to win the title since Ivan Lendl in ‘83 and rose to No. 19 in the rankings.”I came here with a lot of confidence. This is my best beginning of a year,” Stepanek said.
