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  • Fish meets Gicquel in Pilot Pen third round

    8/20/08 7:06 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Wednesday's feature match during the night session will be Mardy Fish against Marc Gicquel. A spot in the Pilot Pen quarterfinals is on the line.

    It will be the first career meeting between Mardy Fish and Marc Gicquel when the two men do battle in the third round of New Haven on Wednesday night.

    Fish is seeded eighth and Gicquel ninth, and the match--in terms of how close it is--should reflect those seedings. That will depend on how Fish plays, however, because he is far more streaky than his French opponent.

    The American has certainly been up-and-down in 2008, although he has mostly been down. Fish started off the season in mediocre form before storming out of almost nowhere to reach the final of the Masters Series Indian Wells. Among his scalps were Nikolay Davydenko and Roger Federer, but Novak Djokovic proved too tough in the title match. Fish then endured a dismal summer slump, but he righted the ship with a semifinal showing in Los Angeles. He lost in the first round at last week's Legg Mason Classic, but got a bye in New Haven before knocking out countryman Wayne Odesnik in three sets.

    Gicquel's year has been much different: lots of solid results and no major slumps, but nothing spectacular either. His highlights include a Challenger title in Bensancon, France, a runner-up performance in 's-Hertogenbosch, a third-round showing at Wimbledon, and a semifinal finish in Amersfoort. Gicquel lost a high-quality three-setter to Bobby Reynolds in the first round of the Legg Mason, so he still appears to be in decent form. The No. 42 player in the world took care of Albert Montanes in straight sets on Tuesday.

    Fish's big forehand will have to be clicking against Gicquel if he wants to have any chance of advancing. Fish can be a bad matchup for Gicquel because Gicquel is a counter-puncher who gets all kinds of balls back, but he can get overpowered by hard hitters. That will only happen if Fish is on top of his game; if he isn't, all Gicquel will have to do is keep balls in play and let his opponent beat himself. Given the way Fish has been playing recently, Gicquel should be able to do just that. The Frenchman in three sets is the pick.

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