Tennis Recap: Mardy Fish withdraws from the U.S. Open / Serena Williams seeded No. 1 for U.S. Open

mardy

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Mardy Fish withdrew for “personal reasons”
Fish missed about 2½ months earlier last season because of an accelerated heartbeat
He has played only sparingly this year as he tries to recover

NEW YORK (AP) — Former top-10 player Mardy Fish pulled out of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Tennis Association, the latest setback in his bid to make a comeback on tour after dealing with heart issues.

The USTA said the 31-year-old American cited “personal reasons” for his withdrawal. The draw for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament is Thursday, and play begins Monday.

Fish has missed months of action at a time over the past two seasons. On Tuesday, Fish stopped playing in the third set of his match against Jarkko Nieminen at a hard-court tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C., because of heat stroke.

Fish has played only eight matches on the ATP World Tour in 2013, going 3-5. He skipped all of the Grand Slam tournaments this season while entering only five other events on the main tour.

A year ago, Fish reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open but withdrew before he was to face Roger Federer at that stage, saying it was for “precautionary measures” on doctor’s orders. Fish missed about 2½ months earlier last season because of an accelerated heartbeat.

The night after he lost a match at Key Biscayne, Fla., in March 2012, Fish’s heart started racing uncontrollably. That May, doctors induced extreme palpitations to try to pinpoint the problem. He returned for last year’s Wimbledon.

During the hard-court tournament in Washington earlier this month, Fish spoke about the difficulties he’s faced the last two seasons.

“I struggled mightily during the U.S. Open last year. So those sort of post-traumatic experiences that I’ve had — that I have now — are what I need to get over right now,” he said. “But it’s a process. It’s not an easy game. And fitness is as big a part of it as playing, and sometimes that’s trouble — spells trouble — for me.”

Asked then whether his heart or mind is the source of greater problems, Fish replied: “It’s a little bit of both. A lot of it’s mental, what I went through, and obviously a little bit of it was physical, too. I can’t say it any differently than: It’s just going to be a day-to-day thing right now.”

Fish, who was born in Minnesota and now lives in Los Angeles, reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 in 2011, and is 173rd this week.

He is a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist — once each at the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open, most recently at Flushing Meadows in 2011.

Serena Williams seeded No. 1 for U.S. Open

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Serena Williams is the top seed for the U.S. Open next week
Azarenka, Sharapova, Radwanska and Errani round out the top five
The other Americans are No. 16 Sloane Stephens, No. 24 Jamie Hampton

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams will be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open as she tries to do something she’s never done: win a second consecutive title at Flushing Meadows.

Williams is a four-time champion at the U.S. Open, including in 2012. Only Chris Evert, with six, and Steffi Graf, with five, have won the tournament more times in the Open era, which began in 1968.

The U.S. Tennis Association stuck to the WTA rankings Tuesday in announcing the 32 seeded women, including Victoria Azarenka at No. 2, and Maria Sharapova at No. 3. Williams is one of three seeded Americans; No. 16 Sloane Stephens and No. 24 Jamie Hampton are the others.

Venus Williams, who won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, is the only unseeded past champion.

U.S. Open seeds

1. Serena Williams, United States

2. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus

3. Maria Sharapova, Russia

4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland

5. Sara Errani, Italy

6. Li Na, China

7. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark

8. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic

9. Angelique Kerber, Germany

10. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia