Mardy Fish had been having knee issues.  One of his best buds on tour, Andy Roddick, had advised him to lose weight.  Fish essentially hired a nutritionist and shaved 30 lbs off his 200 lb frame and now weighs under 170.  This is pretty impressive for a guy 6’2″.

Fish hasn’t had a great deal of success over Roddick.  They’ve met 10 times, and Roddick has won all but once, and that was the first time they met back in 2003.  However, it’s been two years since they last played, and Fish lost his weight earlier this year. Fish felt he had his chances to win, especially after his win in Newport.

Fish went to a tiebreak against Roddick in the first set.  Roddick had the early lead, but Fish managed to get it back and take the tiebreak 7 points to 5.  In the second set, early on, Fish was lamenting a pass that just clipped the net and didn’t go over.  However, Fish got a chance when he barely got to a shot, tossed a lob up, only to see Roddick smash it into the net!  Double break point.  And then Fish kinda pushed the ball back several times in a row and Roddick overplayed a backhand long to give the break to Fish.

Roddick was pressuring Fish on his own serve, when he got to net, hit an angle volley, and Fish chased it down to hit a severe angle passing shot.  That got Fish the lead and he held serve.  Roddick held serve followed by Fish, who close out the second set, 6-3.

Fish will now play John Isner in the finals.  Fish has only played Isner once, in San Jose, back in 2009, which he won.  Whoever wins, it’ll be an American.  Roddick, for his part, said that he didn’t have to win the tournament, and that getting back to the level he was playing at Miami is a process, one which he wishes to peak at the US Open.