The year 2004 saw more success for the young American, including a silver medal at the Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, two surgeries on his left wrist in 2005 threatened to wipe away the good of the prior years. His ranking fell outside of the Top 300 during the early months of the 2006 campaign, but by the time Houston rolled around, he had gotten it up to No. 212.
Form and fortune were both on his side throughout the week in Houston. Fish came through in first-round and quarterfinal nail-biters, and was granted a walkover in the second round. His semifinal opponent, Tommy Haas, had to stop play early in the first set due to a wrist injury of his own, putting Fish in his first final in nearly two years.
On the other side of the draw, Jurgen Melzer of Austria battled through to the title match without the loss of a set. He didn’t face a seeded player in his first three matches, and then beat the No. 7-seeded Paul Goldstein in the semifinals to reach the third singles final of his career.
In this rematch of their 2003 Houston quarterfinal, Melzer—who won that encounter in three sets—captured the first frame of the final, 6-3. The Austrian, a two-time semifinalist at the tournament and a threat on any surface, took an early lead before Fish rallied and went up a break.
Serving at 4-3, 15-40, Fish almost relinquished his advantage, but two clutch serves helped get him out of trouble. He went on to capture the second set 6-4.
In the third, Fish’s aggressive return game in the early stages gave him an early break, staking him to a 2-1 lead. That break was all that Fish would need to take the decider 6-3 to capture the second singles title of his career.
9
That’s the number of complete sets Fish played on his way to the title. In the three full matches he played, each went the distance.
0
In the third set of the final, Fish didn’t drop a point in three of his last four service games.
