Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Associated Press
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.
On the verge of victory, Mardy Fish took a lusty swing and staggered out of the follow-through, his left calf cramping and his ability to continue in doubt.
Three points later he limped into the quarterfinals, the last American standing at the Sony Ericsson Open. Fish whacked a service winner on match point to win a grueling duel against Juan Martin del Potro, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Fish is the lone U.S. player among the 16 men and women in the quarterfinals. At 29, he’ll overtake Andy Roddick to become the top-ranked American man for the first time if he defeats No. 6 David Ferrer.
“Being the No. 1 American would be something that would be pretty cool to tell my kids about,” said Fish, who is married but not yet a dad.
Kim Clijsters overcame five match points to beat No. 19-seeded Ana Ivanovic, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5). Clijsters, the tournament champion in 2005 and again last year, was serving at 1-5, love-40 when her comeback begin.
Ivanovic took the loss badly.
“You should see my racket,” the 2008 French Open champion said, managing a smile. “I kind of broke my racket, and then kind of cried a little bit, and then I was OK.”
No. 21 Andrea Petkovic of Germany reached the semifinals with her second upset in two days, beating No. 6 Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Petkovic eliminated No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.
No. 2 Novak Djokovic has extended his winning streak to 23 consecutive matches by beating fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2. Djokovic has lost eight games in three matches.
No. 1 Rafael Nadal committed only five unforced errors and defeated No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-2.