Mardy Fish returns to tennis with a win over Bobby Reynolds on Sunday in Indian Wells. Fish is joined in the third round by Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
(32) Mardy Fish d. (Q) Bobby Reynolds
Mardy Fish, who had not played a singles match since last summer’s U.S. Open due to health problems, beat Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open after one hour and 57 minutes on Sunday afternoon. The 31-year-old American served at a horrendous 41 percent but he broke his countryman five times to aid his effort.
After splitting the first two sets, Reynolds parlayed his momentum from the second frame of play into a 4-2 lead in the decider. But the American qualifier, seeking his best-ever result at a Masters event, cracked with victory in sight. Reynolds turned in a disastrous service game at 4-3 then donated serve again at 4-5 to end the match.
“There have been a couple of people that have really been there for me through these past months, and it felt good to play for them,” Fish said in his post-match press conference. “The first three months after the U.S. Open I had retired and unretired in my head almost every week. And there was a while where I was done. I had gotten it through my head that I was done when I was just trying to get my normal life back.”
(1) Novak Djokovic d. Fabio Fognini 6-0, 5-7, 6-3
Djokovic seemed to be on his way to an easy straight-set victory in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday evening, but he ended up needing one hour and 50 minutes to subdue Fognini. The top-ranked Serb won an incredible 25 of 31 total points in the opening frame of play and he had plenty of chances to finish the job in swift fashion. Djokovic led by a break early in the second a still had a match point in the 10th game even after giving the break back.
The tide turned, albeit momentarily, when Fognini saved it and held for 5-5. The 36th-ranked Italian broke again in large part due to his opponent’s backhand completely falling apart. Fognini served out the set to force a third, but he lost his momentum by getting broken at 1-2 in the decider. Djokovic had no trouble consolidating his lead from there and he also added one more break for good measure. Next up for the top seed is Grigor Dimitrov, a straight-set winner over Matthew Ebden.
(8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. (WC) James Blake 7-6(6), 6-4
Tsonga survived an entertaining, ball-bashing affair with Blake after one hour and 43 minutes during second-round action on Sunday night. A wild first set saw Blake give a break back midway through it before things got crazy with the 33-year-old American serving at 4-5. He fought off four set points, all with aggressive play, and eventually forced a tiebreaker. Then it was Blake’s turn to hold the set points, of which he had three at 6-3, 6-4, and 6-5.
Tsonga saved two in a row on his opponent’s serve and another on his own serve at 5-6. The eighth-ranked Frenchman ended the set on a five-point winning streak and he carried over the momentum with an early break in the second. Tsonga gave it back but then broke straight away again to regain his advantage. Blake eventually earned a tough hold at 3-5 to stay alive, but Tsonga wrapped up the proceedings with ease one game later. Tsonga will go up against another veteran American–Fish–on Tuesday.
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