Mardy expecting Murray battle

Mardy Fish surprised even himself.

Fish, 33, returned to singles action on the ATP Tour earlier this year after an 18-month absence following a battle with a heart condition and anxiety disorder but he will step into retirement when his US Open campaign ends.

Fish opened the next-to-last tournament of his career with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over 20th-ranked Viktor Troicki in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters on Monday.

He informed the ATP web site: “I used to be somewhat stunned at my degree”.

“A friend of mine came in a couple days and helped, but it was still sort of a struggle even [Sunday] to sort of find my serve and stuff. I was obviously real happy with the level”.

Both players were guilty of wasting chances to take control in the opener as they immediately lost their serve after making breakthroughs, and it soon became clear that Murray was perhaps not timing shots from the back of the court as well as he has done recently.

Gilles Mueller eliminated lucky loser Benoit Paire 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), and Thomaz Bellucci topped Jiri Vesely 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Gael Monfils fell at the first hurdle, the 14th-seeded Frenchman going down 6-4, 7-5 to Jerzy Janowicz, while Andreas Seppi defeated his fellow Italian Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 and Bernard Tomic downed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 6-3 to progress.

In the women’s competition, Venus Williams resisted a spirited performance from Zarina Diyas to triumph 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 – she will next face Ana Ivanovic.

Karin Knapp overcame Ana Konjuh 7-5 6-1 and Coco Vandeweghe beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-2.

“The win speaks for itself”, Vandeweghe said. “That’s all I have to say”.

The second-ranked Sharapova hasn’t played since Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams in the semifinals July 9.

“I’m feeling better, but I’m still working through it”, she said Monday.

Fish – who will retire after the US Open – broke twice for an advantage in the second, but he gave it straight back as many times before Murray coasted in the tie-break.