Mardy Fish

It seems like only yesterday that we were popping the corks on the champagne and looking forward to 2008. Now with 2009 only a month away, it's time to look back and toast some of the turning points that took place in the world of tennis in 2008.

Couplings

Marcos Baghdatis, the exuberant Cypriot who reached the 2006 Australian Open final, has included the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (ITC) on his 2009 schedule. Baghdatis will join Mardy Fish, Tommy Haas and the Bryan Brothers at the 17th annual ATP World Tour event that will be played February 21- March 1, 2009 at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center.

Baghdatis and his million dollar smile burst on the world stage in ‘06 with a run to the

American Mardy Fish will play against World No. 4 Andy Murray in an exhibition match at Mardy's Tennis and Jake's Music Fest, an annual event that benefits the Mardy Fish Foundation, on December 13 in Vero Beach, Florida.

Mardy’s Tennis & Jake’s Music Fest is a two-day event consisting of a combination of tennis, music, golf and a dinner party, at venues around Vero Beach. In addition to the tennis exhibition, tickets are available to attend or participate in other parts of the action-packed weekend.

Towering Croat Ivo Karlovic earned the king of aces title for the second straight season, leading the ATP circuit with 961 aces in 2008.

The 6'10" Karlovic averaged 17.8 aces through 54 matches, achieving his highest total for the season with 42 in his second round win against Frenchman Florent Serra at the US Open. In a best-of-three-sets match, Karlovic fired 35 aces to Rafael Nadal's six in the Queen's Club quarterfinals but still came up on the losing end in a third-set tie-break.

World number three Novak Djokovic will warm up for his Australian Open defence at the inaugural Brisbane International in January, organisers said on Tuesday.
 
Djokovic tops a star-studded line-up for the January 4-11 tournament, which replaces the women's Gold Coast event and the men's Adelaide International.
 

Roger Federer was making no promises Monday as to how long his sudden return to tennis would last this season, saying he's only looking as far ahead as this week's Madrid Masters.

Less than a fortnight after withdrawing from Stockholm to rest, the world number two faces a first-round clash on Wednesday night in Spain against Czech Radek Stepanek as the Swiss tests the waters on his fitness.

"The season was long and I felt very tired, I needed some rest," he said by way of explanation for his break after the Davis Cup in September.

Mardy Fish hit 13 aces to beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-1, 6-4 Monday in the first round of the Madrid Masters.

Fish, a U.S. qualifier ranked 26th, will play Richard Gasquet of France in the second round.

Lucky loser Simone Bolelli also advanced, defeating Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-1. The Italian will next face U.S. Open finalist Andy Murray.

Gilles Simon of France saved three match points before beating Igor Andreev of Russia 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7).

The United States kept their Davis Cup hopes alive after Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez to reduce the champions' deficit to 2-1 in their Madrid semi-final.

 Rafael Nadal turned dream wrecker at Flushing Meadows when he downed American favourite Mardy Fish 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2 in a rowdy late late show that closed Wednesday's programme at the U.S. Open.

In a match that started on Wednesday and did not finish until 2.10 am local time on Thursday, world number one Nadal drowned out the deafening roars on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows for the first time.

Wednesday, 3 September
Arthur Ashe Stadium
 2 Women's Singles - Qtr. Finals
  Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[16]    v.      Dinara Safina (RUS)[6]
 3 Men's Singles - Qtr. Finals
  Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)[17]    v.      Andy Murray (GBR)[6]
 
Arthur Ashe Stadium

7:00 PM Start
1 Women's Singles - Qtr. Finals
  Serena Williams (USA)[4]    v.      Venus Williams (USA)[7]