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American player Mardy Fish cemented his place among the world’s top 20 after winning the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships last weekend. This serves as his third career title.
As the tournament top seed, Fish was considered a strong favorite in the draw. However, the top seed has never won the title in the tournament’s 17-year history and it was Fish who ended the so-called “curse.”
He defeated Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev in two sets (7-5, 6-3) in a rain delayed match that simply challenged both players to adjust to the wind and other weather-related factors.
“Today was one of those matches where you just want to get off the court with a win. It was like I don’t care what the score is, I don’t care what it looks like, I just want to get off this court with a win,” Fish said after the match.
The 20th ranked player had a strong start this season, finishing runner-up in a tournament in San Jose California earlier in February and this title win. He’s going to be a force to reckon with in the upcoming higher-tier events at Indian Wells and Miami.
