US Open Tennis 2011 Results: Mardy Fish vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Highlights

As this year has progressed, 29-year-old Mardy Fish had emerged as the top American in the world, surpassing Andy Roddick, who has fallen to No. 21 in the world rankings.

But on Monday, No. 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made sure Fish wouldn't get further than Roddick in this year's U.S. Open, disposing of the American in a grueling five sets.

Tsonga, a man who has beaten Roger Federer twice this summer, gave a powerful performance in New York City in the fourth round, and, fittingly, he could be set up for another match with Federer in the quarterfinals.

As for Fish, the loss is only a hiccup in an otherwise resurgent year for the veteran.

Result

Fish gave Tsonga a scare on Monday, winning the second and third sets after losing the opening set, but Tsonga really turned it on midway through the fourth set and continued onto victory in commanding fashion, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The match was frustrating for both players given the weather conditions, with wind gusts making the serves difficult and returns hard to control. Fish had 55 unforced errors, but Tsonga also had 59 unforced errors in a match that lasted 3 hours 45 minutes.

Said Tsonga, via the New York Times:

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“The wind was really hard today. I’m sorry for Mardy because he’s just played unbelievable. I’m just happy to go through today.”

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It wasn't as if Fish played poorly. Both players had some memorable moments in the match. It's just that Tsonga was noticeably powerful on Monday, and his endurance at the end appeared to separate the two. Fish, who has actually credited his fitness for his play this season, received medical attention before the fifth set and again after the third game for soreness in his right thigh area and was clearly breaking down in between points in the fifth set.

Story Line

A case can be made for Tsonga as the story line of the match, particularly given his strong performance at Wimbledon, but Fish has become the biggest story line of the two in my mind.

Not only has Fish experienced a remarkable resurgence at an age when most tennis players begin to decline, he's surpassed Roddick in my people's minds as America's only hope to win its first Grand Slam singles title since 2005.

He's won 17 of 21 matches this summer, took home the U.S. Open Series crown, made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, won at the Atlanta Tennis Championships and knocked off Rafael Nadal at Western & Southern before falling to Andy Murray in the semifinals.

In short, it's been a great year for Fish and he shouldn't be too discouraged by his loss on Monday against Tsonga, especially given the field he's had to face.

Said Fish, via ESPN:

"

"I thought obviously this was my best [major] chance so far. I've made three quarterfinals and I've played [Rafael] Nadal and [Andy] Roddick. Look, I had to go through Tsonga, [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, Nadal, whoever's on the other side, just to win the tournament. That's a whole lot of guys."

"

Fish has given America hope this year, and that's definitely worth something.

Next Up for Tsonga

Tsonga will face the winner of Roger Federer and Juan Monaco in the quarterfinals. Federer doesn't figure to have too much trouble disposing of Monaco, the No. 36 player in the world, so that sets up a potential dandy between Federer and his 2011 nemesis.

Since losing to Federer at Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Tsonga has defeated the Swiss at Wimbledon in the quarterfinals and in the third round of the Rogers Cup. While Tsonga is still a distance away from Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic in terms of overall talent, he's also proven that he's a good match-up against Federer, using his power to make things hard on the 30-year-old. He's become a very opportunistic player, as he showed in the Rogers Cup and that has a way of elevating the No. 11 player in the world to the level of the greats, if only for a match.

Federer exacted a fairly commanding victory against Marin Cilic in the third round, but Tsonga is a whole different story. I can never pick Tsonga over Federer, but, then again, Tsonga is 2-1 against Federer this season and has plenty of momentum.