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Mardy Fish Partially Credits Journalist For Career Turnaround
4 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Mardy Fish was at a rock bottom. He had just blown a fifth set lead in the second round of the 2007 U.S. Open to Tommy Robredo on Armstrong Stadium. There are no other words to put it, it was a brutal choke. 64 36 64 67 64.
After the match at the press conference, a local reporter named Lloyd Carroll of the Queens Chronicle asked Fish, then in his mid 20s – an unintentionally provocative question which struck a nerve.
Carroll asked if Fish, ranked no. 40 at the time, if he was “content to be a journeyman on the ATP circuit after getting bounced yet again in the second round of the U.S. Open” by Robredo. Fish, a bit stung by the innocent remark, replied, “So you think I suck?!”
This impromptu reporter-athlete interaction seemed to light a fire inside of Fish. At the 2008 Australian Open, Fish thrashed Robredo 61 62 63. A year later Fish came back to the 2008 U.S. Open ranked #24. More injuries and setbacks stunted Fish’s progress and his ranking dropped again. But before the 2010 season, Fish lost 30 pounds and got in the best shape of his life. By June of 2011, Fish was in the top 10 and was beating players like Murray and Nadal.
The turning point of Fish’s career clearly seemed to be the press conference episode with Carroll. Lloyd and myself joked about the incident, though we also knew it was not entirely a joke.
At one of the U.S. Open press conferences by Fish in a following year, Carroll, a very jocular and personable sort with a built-in smile, cracked to Fish that he felt he deserved partial credit for his career turnaround and Fish replied with a smile but more seriousness: “And so you should.”
So there it was, the official confirmation from Fish himself.
Yes, it actually happened in tennis. A journalist calling an ATP pro a “journeyman” at a press conference actually sparked one of the most remarkable hot streaks of the decade.
“Clearly I motivated him to a higher level!” says a proud Lloyd Carroll about the spontaneous incident in 2007 which slipped unnoticed by most all of the tennis media.
"Journeyman" Fish became a star
Dan Markowitz · February 8, 2013 at 11:37 am
Well, I don’t think it’s like Agassi calling Vince a journeyman and then Vince reeling off and beating Agassi then in Cincy and the Australian O.
Most likely, it was an accumulation of comments made to Fish about his lacklustre career that spurred Mardy. Maybe Lloyd could come around and get Mardy out of his current duldrums.
Scoop Malinowski · February 8, 2013 at 11:59 am
Dan I witnessed it. The interaction of Lloyd and Fish certainly sparked something in Fish. And he admitted it in his own words: “And so you should.” I actually watched the fifth set vs. Robredo and Fish was up a break in the fifth, maybe even two breaks and he somehow lost the match. Brutal loss. Mardy’s career took a turn up from that point on. There are no coincidences.
Steve · February 8, 2013 at 3:32 pm
HAHAHA Great story. Mardy Fish seems like one of the nicest guys on tour. I remember he beat Federer once but was humble about it in the post-match interview. I can see the Lloyd Carroll weight loss program now…
Scoop Malinowski · February 9, 2013 at 8:14 am
Fish turned out to be a great player after years of struggle and minimal results. Lloyd Carroll had something to do with it, albeit a small part but even Fish recognized it. Life is funny like that how one offhand comment from a stranger can spark something in another person.