Mardy Fish Awarded a Wild Card Into Two USTA Pro Circuit Challengers

Mardy Fish has been awarded a wild card into two USTA Pro Circuit events this month. Fish will compete in two $50,000 Challengers—the Savannah (Ga.) Challenger, held the week of April 22, and the USTA Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in Florida, held the week of April 29. Fish, once ranked in the Top 10 in the world, has been sidelined with an undisclosed heart condition that was diagnosed almost a year ago. In his first appearance since the 2012 U.S. Open, Fish reached the third round of the ATP Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Calif., last month and has not played since.

Fish peaked at number seven in the world in 2011 and owns six career ATP singles titles. Fish won the silver medal in men’s singles at the Athens Olympics and has been a longtime member of the U.S. Davis Cup team.

Fish is no stranger to the USTA Pro Circuit’s Tallahassee event. He won the event in 2006 when the tournament was played on hard courts and then went on to win the ATP singles title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston the following week in a rarity—winning a hard-court event and a clay-court event on consecutive weeks, as well as a USTA Pro Circuit event and ATP World Tour event on consecutive weeks. Tallahassee is one of three USTA Pro Circuit singles titles won by Fish.

Savannah and Tallahassee are two of three men’s tournaments that are part of the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge, in addition to the $100,000 Sarasota (Fla.) Open, held the week of April 15. The three men’s tournaments join three $50,000 women’s tournaments—the Dothan (Ala.) Pro Classic, held the week of April 15; the Boyd Tinsley Clay Court Classic in Charlottesville, Va., held the week of April 22; and the Audi Melbourne Pro Tennis Classic in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., held the week of April 29.

The American man and American woman who earn the most ATP World Tour and WTA Tour ranking points at two of three USTA Pro Circuit clay-court events will receive USTA wild cards to compete in the main draws of the 2013 French Open. Players who did not receive direct entry into the French Open are eligible for the wild cards. Fish, who is currently ranked 42nd in the world, already has direct entry into the 2013 French Open.