Unseeded American Mardy Fish earned one of the biggest victories in his 10-year career on Saturday at the Sony Ericsson Open with a 6-4, 6-4 upset win over last year’s champion Andy Murray.
Murray, the Australian Open runner-up in January, was seeded No. 3 at Key Biscayne but failed to survive his opening match.
“He probably didn’t play the way he did in Australia,” Fish said. “But I don’t care.”
PHOTO: EPA
Murray confirmed he has been struggling the past two months and described the problem as mostly mental.
“It’s purely down to me, what goes on inside my head,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how well you practice. You need to be tough in the matches.”
Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun, having defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy in the first round, found Chilean world No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez a tougher proposition in his straight sets defeat on Saturday.
PHOTO: AFP
Gonzalez, the No. 9 seed, beat Lu 6-4, 6-4.
Top-ranked Roger Federer held every service game and won his opening match by beating lucky loser Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-3.
Federer, the Key Biscayne champion in 2005 and 2006, has an inviting path to the final with Murray out. No. 2 Novak Djokovic was eliminated on Friday.
“I hadn’t even started playing yet, and there are two big names out of the tournament already,” Federer said. “It worries me as well, being the top seed. I’m relieved I’m through the first match.”
Rafael Nadal will overtake Murray for the No. 3 spot in the next rankings, while Fish advances to the third round at Key Biscayne for the first time since 2003.
“I desperately wanted to play well here,” Fish said.
Once a top 20 player, Fish joked that declining fortunes have made him a doubles specialist. It’s true he’s playing doubles at Key Biscayne, but he’s also mounting a comeback from left knee surgery last September.
Fish’s ranking of No. 101 will rise thanks to his second career win over a player ranked in the top three. He beat Federer at Indian Wells two years ago.
Joining Fish in the third round were No. 5 seeded Robin Soderling and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco. Soderling beat Peter Luczak 7-6 (5), 6-0, and Verdasco eliminated Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-2.
Murray trains in nearby Miami, and he became the first British player to win Key Biscayne when he beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s final. But the Scotsman said he sensed trouble against Fish, even serving with a 3-1, 40-love lead.
The tide turned when Murray lost that game.
“I just wasn’t very good today, and I’m going to need to get a lot better,” he said. “If you leave the ball short in the middle of the court, it’s very easy for guys to attack and be aggressive.”
Fish lost just six points on his first serve. He hit 28 winners to Murray’s nine and frequently charged the net behind returns.
Meanwhile, in the women’s matches, three-time champion Venus Williams reached the fourth round by beating Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-4 and is the only American who reached the final 32 in the women’s draw. She and sister Serena are the lone US women in the top 40.
“It’s just definitely strange because of the unbelievable tradition we’ve had with tennis for Americans since the beginning,” Williams said. “That’s what makes it so odd. With Serena and me, the standard has been set pretty high. Hopefully there will be someone coming along soon with the tools and the traits, and who will build that in their game to get there.”
Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat No. 27 Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-3.
Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic’s recent struggles continued with a loss to No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-5, 7-5.
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