by Robert Davis
Last year, Mardy Fish resurrected his career; realising that athletic ability was not enough to survive on the ATP World Tour. By maturing into a true professional, the American was able to regain his Top 20 ranking.
© Getty Images / All Other Photos © Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish is currently No. 16 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings.
Mardy Fish tried his best to put on a brave face. Still he could not stop the tears from streaming down. The red, white and blue flag being raised for the gold medal winner on the podium at the Athens Olympics was not the Stars and Stripes. And the national anthem that was playing was definitely not the Star Spangled Banner. Rather the Himno Nacional de Chile. It all seemed like a bad dream to the young American. Less than an hour earlier, he was on the verge of making it a dream come true. A sharp pain seared through his body. It was greater than any injury he had ever experienced. It was the nasty, brutal kind. The tennis gods had played a cruel joke on the talented Mr. Fish.
stream down: 流下來
podium: 講台 (這裡指雅典奧運頒獎台)
Star Spangled Banner: 美國國歌歌名
Himno Nacional de Chile: 智利國歌歌名
verge: 邊緣
“He came so close to winning being up two sets to one,” says Tom Fish, Mardy’s father. “It was heartbreaking to watch. Though, for me he did fantastic. When he left for Athens, he said, ‘I am going to come back with a medal.’ And I am thinking, wow, good attitude son.”
It was a lofty goal for someone who was ranked in the 30s at the time.
“The Olympics were very painful,” confesses Fish. “It was one of my greatest highs, but it also became one of my greatest lows. When it came time for Beijing, I did not want to go through that pain again. I think that I have matured since then, and I just hope that I am in good form and fortunate enough to be selected for London [2012].”
Trace Fish’s career and you would have a sketch that looks a bit like the Rocky Mountains of Colorado; high rising peaks mixed with sheer drop-offs. In the fall of 2009, a severe knee injury backed Fish into a corner. There was no way out. He would have to commit or quit. Fish chose to commit. 
surgery: 手術
“Resurrection and commitment are the words that first spring to mind when I think of Mardy's career,” says Jim Courier. “Mardy has really blossomed and matured in the past couple of years, which is a credit both to him and surely to the influence of his wife. He experienced the serious knee surgery that threatened his career and then firmly committed himself to getting fit for the first time in his career. It was a career resurrection.”
resurrection: 復活，復甦
blossom: 大鳴大放
“There was not an exact moment where I said, ‘This is it’,” admits Fish. “It kind of built up and with the knee surgery and not being able to work out at all with the stitches, it just hit me. I had a lot of questions. I had been fooling myself. I thought I was in shape, but I really was not. Basically, I was too heavy to be running around a tennis court.
in shape: 健康狀況良好
“I wasn't surprised at all about his commitment,” says good friend and Davis Cup teammate James Blake.
“I thought that maybe 10 pounds would be good for him," says Tom Fish. “When he lost that he said he felt good, and decided to drop another 10. And then another 10.”
After it was all said and done, Fish had shed 30 pounds. His problem had never been hitting the ball, it was getting to it. Now that was solved, he could get on with the business of winning tennis matches.
shed: 流走 (這裡指Fish總共減了30磅)
You can say a lot of things about Fish, but lack of ability is not one of them. Tennis coaches on the ATP World Tour rarely agree on anything, but one thing that anybody who has ever fed a ball to Mardy Fish agree on is his natural born talent.
“He has always been an incredible athlete,” says Tom Fish. “He did not really choose tennis until he was 15 years old. I knew he was special but did not know what sport he would choose. He was good at all of them, baseball, golf, basketball and tennis.” 
“His talent was very obvious in all sports,” says Mardy’s former coach, Stanford Boster. “He is almost a scratch golfer and sometimes joked that he has chosen the wrong sport. Mardy always knew he was going to be a tennis professional. It also helped that Tom and Sally (Mardy’s parents) encouraged a professional career and his Dad was instrumental in putting the pieces of the puzzle together.”
instrumental in: 對...有幫助
“Outside of his talent, his greatest attribute was his belief,” continues Boster. “He could have been playing the worst tennis against a great player and somehow still believed he should win.”
Coach Kelly Jones was by Mardy’s side when he got his breakthrough on the ATP World Tour. Jones backs up Boster’s claim.
“Well the first thing is that he (Fish) believes he can beat anybody,” explains Jones. “That there is absolutely nobody he cannot beat on a given day. This is one thing that he said to me and then he went out and backed it up. And he is an exceptional athlete.”
exceptional: 特殊的，異於常人的
Scott McCain was the United States Tennis Association’s men’s pro development coach when Mardy was coming through the ranks.
“I think obviously he used his talent to make his breakthrough,” says McCain. “His talent was good enough to get him to Top 20. But, today, we see a different Mardy Fish. I don’t think he is as much worried about style as he is about how he can win this particular match.”
Mardy’s father agrees.
“He has definitely grown up a ton,” says Tom Fish. “He used to try to beat players with just his sheer athletic talents and ball striking ability.”
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