Mardy Fish lost his cool in a rush to try and finish off a win as potential bad weather approached, with the top seed still pulling out a 6—4, 6—3 victory over Somdev Davvarman into the semi—finals of the Atlanta Championships Friday.
The defending champion missed on two match points while leading 5—0 in the second set and had to struggle for three more games before finally managing the win over his Indian opponent seeded eighth.
“I played one bad game and rushed a bit,” said the ATP number nine. “The weather was rough. I was too eager to get off the court.” During his run of poor form, Fish lost 10 of 11 points as Devvarman pulled to 3—5.
Gilles Muller of Luxembourg knocked out second seed Kevin Anderson 7—6 (7—3), 7—6 (7—3) to set up a meeting with American John Isner.
The 82nd—ranked Muller is back in the chase on the ATP in a welcome return to form after more than two years of knee injury struggle.
Third—seeded Isner, last year’s losing finalist to Mardy Fish, crushed Taiwan’s Lu Yen—Hsun 6—1, 6—2. The Asian had lost his first six matches of the season but steadied since.
Isner beat him at the event a year ago in an opening match in their only previous meeting.
Isner’s confidence has risen after winning the Newport grass title the week after Wimbledon. He spent less than an hour in hammering his opponent with four breaks of serve.
“I feel like I have my swagger back. It’s all about confidence now,” said the winner. “I’m playing well and serving well. When I’ve had my chances, I’ve converted them.” Muller, who played his last ATP semi—final in Los Angeles in 2005, has never won an ATP title.
Muller, 28, needed just over two hours to secure victory as he played in only his third Tour—level event of the season, advancing from an Anderson unforced error on match point.
“I know I can beat a lot of top players when I play well,” said the winner. “The problem has always been consistency. Now that I’m in the semis, I hope I can play even better.”
