Tennis: Fish Hooked On Houston

Viggö

Mardy Fish has beaten Juergen Melzer 3-6 6-4 6-3 to take the US Men's Clay Court Championships, held in Houston.

With both unseeded players having turned the formbook on its head to reach the final, it was the 212th-ranked American Fish who prevailed on home soil against his Austrian opponent.

Nevertheless Fish had to fight for his win, losing the first set before subsequently falling behind in the second.

But the turning point of the match came when Fish proceeded to break his opponent's serve and go 4-3 up.

Melzer then had two chances to break back, Fish hitting a second serve at 15-40 down that Melzer left, thinking it to be long.

But the umpire confirmed the ball was in and, after Melzer had netted a serve return on his second break point, Fish closed the game out to lead 5-3 before levelling the match.

Fish then broke his opponent in the third game of the decider, Melzer attempting a drop shot from the baseline that fell into the net.

And the comeback was sealed when Fish - whose injury problems last year saw him plunge from a high of 17th in the world - broke again to take the third set 6-3.

"This has been an incredible week for me," Fish later said of his second career ATP title. "I definitely didn't expect to be standing here in front of this trophy."


[Credit: SkySports.com]