Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Fish withdraws from Davis Cup quarters

   Now we know why Mardy Fish played so poorly in his last match.
   After two doctors diagnosed him with fatigue, the highest-ranked American withdrew Monday from this weekend's Davis Cup quarterfinals against France in Monte Carlo.
   “We don’t want to get exactly into what the symptoms were," Fish's agent, John Tobias, told the Associated Press. "He didn’t feel normal. He said, ‘Hey, something’s wrong here.’ He was concerned about it. His body got out of whack, caused by a number of different variables … (but) they ruled out any potential long-term issues."
   Fish, the marquee player for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis at No. 9 in the world, lost to then-No. 21 Juan Monaco 6-1, 6-3 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.
   The last two years, in which Fish has soared from No. 55 in the world to a career-high No. 7 last August, appear to have caught up with the 30-year-old Los Angeles resident. The Sony Ericsson Open marked the first time that he has won consecutive matches since last October.
   Also, the Davis Cup has added to Fish's hectic travel schedule. After falling in the second round of Australian Open in January, he flew to Switzerland for a first-round encounter. Fish rallied to beat Stanislas Wawrinka 9-7 in the fifth set on clay to help the United States beat a Swiss squad that also included Roger Federer.
   After the Davis Cup, Fish flew home to California, played in Marseille and Dubai, flew back home, then competed at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne.
    “Just a crazy amount of travel, and the time-zone changes -- it kind of wears you out after a while,” Tobias said.
   Fish still might play next week on clay in Houston, AP reported, and he plans to compete on the European clay-court circuit in Rome and Madrid to prepare for the French Open, which begins May 27.
   Nineteen-year-old Ryan Harrison, ranked 66th, will replace Fish on the U.S. team. Andy Roddick (29th) and Donald Young (46th) are ranked higher and possess much more experience, but Roddick has had his own physical issues after spearheading the American squad for 10 years, and Young feuded with the United States Tennis Association last year.
   Meanwhile, in a less-than-shocking development, 14th-ranked Gael Monfils of France withdrew from the Davis Cup quarterfinals because of an abdominal injury. Monfils has pulled out during the last two SAP Opens in San Jose with injuries.
   New rankings -- Fresno's Raquel Kops-Jones, a former NCAA doubles champion from Cal, rose three notches to a career-high No. 25 in the world doubles rankings.
   Following are this week's rankings of professional players with Northern California ties (change from last week in parentheses):
Men
   Bob Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mike Bryan, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Mardy Fish, Sacramento Capitals (2012) of World TeamTennis -- No. 9 in singles (-1), No. 108 in doubles (-3).
   John Paul Fruttero, Cal All-American in 2001 and 2002 -- Career-high No. 99 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Kiryl Harbatsiuk, three-time Big Sky Conference MVP (2009-11) at Sacramento State -- No. 768 in singles (no change), No. 1,254 in doubles (-5).
   Mark Knowles, Capitals (2001-07, 2009-12) -- No. 70 in doubles (+2), unranked in singles.
   Scott Lipsky, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 35 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   David Martin, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 152 in doubles (no change), No. 761 in singles (+1).
   Conor Niland, 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American at Cal -- No. 312 in singles (+1), unranked in doubles.
   Sam Querrey, San Francisco native -- No. 106 in singles (-4), No. 28 in doubles (no change).
   Jean-Julien Rojer, Capitals (2012) -- No. 38 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.
   Dmitry Tursunov, Folsom resident -- No. 76 in singles (-11), No. 227 in doubles (-3).
   Jimmy Wang, Folsom resident -- No. 189 in singles (-1), No. 383 in doubles (+3).
Women
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- CAREER-HIGH No. 25 in doubles (+3), No. 722 in singles (-10).
   Asia Muhammed, Capitals (2012) -- No. 180 in doubles (+2), No. 384 in singles (-3).
   Maria Sanchez, Modesto resident -- CAREER-HIGH No. 185 in doubles (+2), No. 385 in singles (-2).
   Yasmin Schnack, Elk Grove resident, Capitals (2011-12) -- CAREER-HIGH No. 169 in doubles (no change), No. 380 in singles (-8).
   Coco Vandeweghe, Capitals (2009, 2012) -- No. 165 in singles (+4), No. 379 in doubles (+36).

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