Fish Passes Roddick to Become Top American Tennis Player

March 31, 2011

Mardy Fish returns a shot to David Ferrer at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla., where Fish won the match 7-5, 6-2, March 30, 2011

Reaching the age of 29 in men’s tennis often is a time when many players start thinking beyond hitting balls, beyond the hours of training and the steely focus that is required during a match.

A player who certainly has no such thoughts is Fish, who for the first time in his 11-year pro career, assumes a position that has been revered by players from the United States. He will be the No.1 American in world tennis, moving ahead of one of his closest friends, Roddick.

Defeating Ferrer to reach the semis of the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami brought him that glory.

"I've never been in this position before. Obviously, it’s very humbling. This is a pretty big country, [with] a lot of people playing tennis, so I will try to put it into perspective, and I will. Number 11, a career high of number 11 sounds really good, too. And these are the rewards that come with working as hard as I did."

Roddick had held that position every week since January 23, 2007. While Andy will be delighted for his buddy, it’s not something that Fish will readily bringing up when they are trash talking. On those occasions, Fish will rub in their golf scores. Mardy says Roddick’s tennis career has been far better than his.