Fish solidifies return with 2nd ATP victory

It’s been a long comeback for American Mardy Fish, and he’s not done yet.

Two wrist surgeries last year kept him from competing much, but he proved Sunday he’s finding his form, rallying from a set down to beat Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the U.S. Clay Court Championship in Houston.

Next on his to-do list: making the main draw at Wimbledon in late June.

“It’s reachable now,” he said. “I need to bear down again, forget about the last two weeks and start over.”

Fish, who had lost six of seven tour finals before Sunday, came into the clay court tournament after winning a lower-tier tour event in Tallahassee, Fla., last week. He said he plans to play four more of those before Wimbledon to gain enough ATP points to get straight into the Grand Slam draw.

On Sunday, Melzer netted a high, easy backhand volley on match point and Fish fell to the ground along the baseline and lay on his back in jubilation following his second career tour victory.

“It’s been an incredible week for me,” Fish told the crowd after collecting his $52,000 winner’s check. “I didn’t expect to be standing here in front of this trophy to have my name on it.”

The win avenged a lone loss to the Austrian player, who beat Fish in a 2003 three-set quarterfinal match here. The title is Fish’s first on clay. His only other tour win came three years ago in Stockholm.

“Nadia Petrova battled stifling heat, sore legs and the temptation to retire to defeat Patty Schnyder 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and win the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., for her second straight tournament victory.

Petrova, who also won last week at Amelia Island, now has four tour victories, all in the last six months. Her first came last October at Linz, Austria, where she also defeated Schnyder. This is her first top-tier tournament win.

“Qualifier Nicolas Almagro won his first ATP title, beating Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 6-2 at the Valencia Open in Madrid, Spain.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, ranked 77th, easily won the first set and broke his opponent again in the first game of the second set at Valencia Tennis Club.

Earlier in the tournament, Almagro beat Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Simon, ranked 86th and playing in his first ATP final, has played only 26 matches on the tour.

Gymnastics

U.S. women dominate

The U.S. women dominated the final day of the Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Championships in Honolulu.

Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin each added a gold medal Saturday to their all-around titles, giving the U.S. team a total of seven gold and three silver for the three-day championships. The U.S. women won the team title ahead of Australia and Canada on Thursday.

The U.S. men’s squad managed only two bronze medals. David Sender finished third on the vault and David Durante tied for the bronze in the parallel bars.

Reigning world champion Memmel won gold in the balance beam and finished second on the floor exercise, two days after tying Liukin for the overall crown. Memmel scored 15.700 on the beam, edging Liukin’s 15.625.

The 16-year-old Liukin won the uneven bars, beating teammate Shayla Worley. Jana Bieger won gold in the vault and floor exercise.