Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Fish won six tournaments on the main ATP Tour and reached the final of four Masters Series events: Cincinnati in 2003 and 2010, Indian Wells in 2008, and Montreal in 2011. His best results at Grand Slam tournaments are reaching the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open, the 2008 US Open, and the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Fish won the silver medal in men's singles, losing the final to Nicolás Massú.
In April 2011, Fish overtook compatriot and friend Andy Roddick to become the American No. 1 in the ATP rankings, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2011. He then played in the year-end tournament for the only time in his career. He retired after the 2015 US Open. In January 2019, Fish replaced Jim Courier as captain of the United States Davis Cup team.
Fish is the son of a tennis teaching professional and a housewife, Tom and Sally Fish. He was born in Edina, Minnesota. In 1984 a Minneapolis TV station ran a profile of Fish, at the age of two, hitting tennis balls from the baseline over the net. In 1986, Fish's family moved to Vero Beach, Florida. He attended Vero Beach High School for tenth grade, then moved to Boca Prep in Boca Raton, Florida, for his junior and senior years of high school. He, Andy Roddick, and Jesse Levine all attended Boca Prep International School. During 1999, he lived with Roddick's family, and the two played on the same tennis and basketball teams.
As a junior, Fish compiled a 58–25 singles win–loss record (32–19 in doubles), reaching as high as No. 14 in the world in 1999 (and No. 19 in doubles).
Fish turned professional in 2000 at the age of 18. He spent his first few years as a pro playing in the Challenger and Futures circuits. He earned his first title on the ATP Tour in 2002 playing doubles in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, with Andy Roddick.
Fish's career improved significantly in 2003, when he won his first ATP singles title and reached the biggest final of his career in Cincinnati. His singles victory came near the end of the season, when he defeated Robin Söderling to win the Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition, he defeated fifth-seeded and former world no. 1 Carlos Moyà at the 2003 Australian Open in the second round, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. He finished the year ranked no. 20 in the world.
Fish played well in 2004, reaching the finals at the SAP Open in San Jose, California and in the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Fish earned a silver medal having defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero and Fernando González to reach the final. He lost the final in five sets to Chilean Nicolás Massú.
In 2005, Fish injured his left wrist. It eventually required two surgeries, and as a result, he played just 17 matches in the year.
Fish was awarded a wildcard in April into the US Men's Claycourt Championships. He won the tournament, defeating eighth seed Juan Mónaco, Rainer Schüttler, Vince Spadea, Tommy Haas, and Jürgen Melzer in the final 3–6, 6–4, 6–3.
At Wimbledon, Fish signaled his return to professional status as he reached the third round, defeating fellow American Robby Ginepri and Dutch player Melle van Gemerden. The night prior to his third-round match, he suffered from food poisoning. He could play only one set before retiring against Georgian Irakli Labadze.
Fish began 2007 by achieving his best finish at a Grand Slam. Fish reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, losing to his old roommate and doubles partner, Andy Roddick. Fish made waves on the first day of the tournament by knocking off Ivan Ljubičić, the fourth seed, and had an easy win in the third round when his heavily favoured opponent Wayne Arthurs retired in the opening set. Fish had few problems in his first four matches, but lost in straight sets to Roddick. As a result, he moved up by 17 places in the ATP rankings.
Fish started off 2008 quite well at the Hopman Cup, an exhibition event in Perth, Western Australia. Partnering with Serena Williams, he won the title. Williams was ill and arrived after the start of the event, but Meghann Shaughnessy filled in for the first match. Fish won against Indian Rohan Bopanna and Australian Peter Luczak, and received a walkover from Czech Tomáš Berdych. Although Fish lost the first doubles match, he and Williams were undefeated in two mixed doubles matches. They qualified as undefeated for the final, where they faced top-seeded Serbians Novak Djokovic and Jelena Janković. Although Fish lost in singles against Djokovic, the Americans again won the mixed doubles match to win the title.
Fish fell to Jarkko Nieminen in the third round of the Australian Open after a code violation caused him to lose his composure.
Fish then went on to make a quarterfinal showing at the 2008 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, before losing to long-time friend and wild-card entry Robby Ginepri.
At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Fish defeated world no. 1 Roger Federer in the semifinals in what Fish described as "a great win," after failing to beat the Swiss player in five previous matches. However, Fish lost in the final to Novak Djokovic, the third seed.
At the French Open, Fish lost in the second round to 25th-seeded Lleyton Hewitt with Fish committing 58 unforced errors, compared to Hewitt's twelve.
At Wimbledon, Fish lost in the first round to eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet.