Mardy Fish Takes out Del Potro and More ATP News

The Miami morning kicked off with David Ferrer taking out fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers fast in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. The No. 6 in the world easily took out the other coastal Spaniard, Granollers, who is currently ranked at 49. 

In a closer match, American Mardy Fish and Juan Martin Del Potro butt heads but ultimately Fish stuck it out to end the match 7-5, 7-6. While Fish is currently ranked No. 15 and Del Potro No. 51, Fish has suffered a series of upsets and setbacks from his astronomically high expectations. Fish and Del Potro played quite evenly for the first set, with Fish taking the edge, but during the second set, Del Potro seemed to fade out, losing steam and giving the match over to Fish. Reportedly, Fish began having calf cramps toward the end of the second set, but powered through it to move on.

Del Potro said after the loss, "Yes, was nice. It was nice tournament for me, basically because I really miss the crowd, the fans. Here I be almost like Argentina, and many people come to see the tournament. They help me for fight every match, and hopefully in the future gonna be the same. Mardy, after the match, say, The people still loving you. So good luck for him, and I'm very glad for him for his win today."

You will see Fish and Del Porto playing again, not facing off, but playing doubles in Madrid. Fish said of his friendship with Del Potro, "Yeah, we've played doubles in Madrid. We were going to play doubles again two years ago we played doubles in Madrid, this year. I don't play doubles with too many guys outside of James and Andy, so he's certainly one of the best guys around. His team, you know, they just play there's no nonsense, you know, coming from his box when you're playing or yelling or screaming. There's no screaming from him. He's just a professional. It's pretty impressive at his age. He's one of the best guys out there, for sure."

Ferrer and Fish will now face off in the quarterfinals of the tournament later this week.

In a battle of the giants, fellow American John Isner was not so lucky when he lost to unseeded South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 7-6. Anderson is 6'8" to Isner's 6'9".

Follow us on Twitter!