With his burnt finger becoming more thickened and blistered, Rafael Nadal has bowed out of Cincinnati, falling easily to the in form Mardy Fish. Fish, who won 6-3, 6-4, later said “It’s gonna be cool to tell my kids one day that I beat Rafael Nadal.”
Fish put on an impressive service display, hitting 12 aces and doing a good job of keeping Nadal off balance. Nadal’s average result wasn’t aided by fatigue after being on court for almost five hours yesterday with two burnt, heavily strapped fingers. Nadal seemed unusually tired for a man who hasn’t played much tennis in recent weeks despite being one of the fittest men on the tour.
If Fish can now scalp Andy Murray in the semifinals it will be his fourth consecutive final. Mardy is now the most in form player apart from Novak Djokovic on the tour. “I think I can beat anyone right now. I played Novak very well last week in the final. Andy’s one of the best players in the world, but I’m as confident as I’ve ever been.”
