Mardy Fish is back in action against Nikolay Davydenko in the Cincinnati Masters this afternoon.
Fish cemented his position as the top American last week by battling his way to the Montreal Masters final. He then came fairly close to inflicting Novak Djokovic's second defeat of the season, only just going down 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to miss out on that elusive first Masters Series title. Fish had his chances, Djokovic was rattled and the American may regret not making enough first serves to be able to employ aggressive serve-volleying tactics right from the start of the match as Djokovic struggled to find a way past him at the net.
This week he's got plenty of points to defend as he made the Cincinnati final last year, losing to Roger Federer. The quick conditions suit a player like Fish but it will be interesting to see just how much he wants it this week. He's played a ton of matches over the past month, winning Atlanta and making the Los Angeles final and he will be well aware that he arrived a bit burnt out at the US Open last year. He's also committed himself to Winston Salem next week.
Davydenko had the toughest of draws in Canada getting Djokovic in round two but he impressed early on, leading the top seed by a double break before Djokovic fought back. The Russian has had a bit of a torrid time over the past few months on the clay and grass but if he is going to find his form again it will be on hard courts. He made a good start this week, enjoying a comfortable 6-2, 7-6 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky.
