Fed hopes to catch Fish

Mardy Fish celebrates beating Andy Roddick in the Cincinnati Masters semifinals at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre on Saturday.Photo: AFP

Mardy Fish reached the championship of the Cincinnati Masters event by rallying to beat American compatriot Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 on Saturday.
The unseeded Fish was able to regroup during a third rain delay and upset the former world number one in the semifinal match.
Roddick led 5-2 in the second set when the players briefly went to the locker room. Fish was in top form when they returned.
"I was just lucky to get out of it," Fish said.
In Sunday's final, Fish was to play Swiss superstar Roger Federer who easily beat unseeded Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-3.
"It wasn't long at all," Fish said of the break. "It was only a couple minutes that we were back there, so I just changed [clothes]. It was only a couple of minutes."
The beginning of the match was delayed 50 minutes by heavy rain. Another cloudburst during the first set resulted in a one-hour delay. Roddick was up 5-4 coming out of the delay. Fish dumped three forehands into the net while Roddick captured the set.
Roddick built a 5-2 lead in the second set when another shower forced a brief break.
Fish knew he was in deep trouble when he came back on the court.
This time, Fish was better when they returned to the hardcourt stadium. He broke Roddick's serve for the first time in the match to keep it going, then won the tiebreaker when Roddick began missing easy shots.