Mardy Fish Officially Named US Davis Cup Captain
(January 9, 2019) The USTA officially announced on Wednesday that former world No. 7 and Davis Cup veteran Mardy Fish has been named the new captain of the U.S. Davis Cup Team. He takes over Jim Courier to become the 41st captain in the team’s 120-year history and will make his debut at the newly formatted Davis Cup Finals November 18-24 in Madrid, Spain.
“Ever since I started playing professionally and started understanding what the Davis Cup was and how special it was, even as a player, I wanted to be the Davis Cup Captain,” Fish said via the USTA press release. “I just thought that position was so special – leading the guys and leading the team, building relationships and the team aspect around it. I’m a team-sport athlete stuck in an individual sport, and I love the team aspect of Davis Cup. To even be considered, let alone named the Captain, is incredibly humbling.”
In a USTA conference call, USTA Head of Player Development, Martin Blackman talked about the search for the new captain:As we looked for our new captain, we saw an opportunity to expand the role and have a year-round presence for the captain, and even more integration with player development. Jim Courier, Captain Courier, was great to work with, so generous with his time. With this new role, we’re going to be able to even expand it more.
Mardy will be able to go to selected tournaments throughout the year to interface with our top players and their private coaches. The guys have told us that that support year-round at the tournaments on the outside courts just means so much to them. Obviously that will enable Mardy to get to know their games even more so that when we get to Madrid, we’ve got that competitive advantage.
Also Mardy in this role will be a great ambassador not just for American tennis and our top players but also for our Net Generation youth initiative, which is really our focus right now at the base to grow the game.
In his position of leadership, he’s going to be someone who kids look to as an inspirational figure. When they see Mardy and the guys with that jacket in Madrid representing Team USA, they’ll also know that Mardy really cares about every kid who picks up a racquet.
“Ever since I turned pro, was a practice partner, I’ve been through a few generations of Davis Cup captains, all the way back to Johnny Mack in 1999 in Santander,” Fish said on the call. “It’s been something that is a dream job for me, something that I won’t take for granted, and am completely honored. It’s just incredibly special to even be mentioned as a possible candidate.
“To be the Davis Cup captain, the next Davis Cup captain, incredibly humbled. I can’t even express how excited I am, how excited I am that the players have supported the decision. The friendships I’ve made throughout the years, relationships of all the players, not just the top players, is very special.
“I’ve answered the call every time P Mack or Jim had asked me to play, whether it was a practice partner or an actual player on the team. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get started, to start sort of integrating the future players with the current players. We’ve got a really fun and exciting time in U.S. tennis right now.”
“When I sort of knew I was retiring, knew the timetable, one of the first people that I called was Martin Blackman,” Fish said. “I always knew that I wanted to help sort of mentor and coach. I love helping to guide not for profit, but how can I figure out how to be involved and just help.
“I knew that the West Coast training center out here in Carson, California, was a few miles away, sometimes an hour and a half away in traffic out here, but not too far away. So that was something that we put in place even while I was still playing, trying to help, trying to figure out exactly the perfect role for how much I can give and how much I can help and where that fits in with the USTA.
“Obviously selfishly this is, in my opinion, the best job that anyone can have in tennis after you retire. The only thing better would be a playing captain. We don’t need to worry about that.”
On the concerns in regard to the new format in Davis Cup:
“I’ve spoken with all the players already. We just sort of called out to all of them sort of last night. They’re all very excited. Everyone is really excited about the idea of the reform, the new format, sort of a World Cup of tennis, if you will.
“It’s going to be interesting for all parties to see how it goes. I think it’s going to be awesome personally. I was excited about the change initially. I know all the players are, as well. All the ones that I’ve spoken to just briefly, just over the years, knowing how much all the way from our top player John Isner, to the guys that haven’t been able to play yet, want to play badly, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, they’re all really excited about the new format.”
Fish said that he’s been in contact with all of the former US Davis Cup captains getting input and advice. “I have great relationships with all of those guys that I played for and with. Incredible amount of respect for Patrick McEnroe and Jim Courier. I can’t tell you enough about how supportive Jim has been since they decided to name me as the captain, as well as throughout when I played with him. It was so cool to be part of playing and having someone like him.
“As a player, you sit down on the changeover. It doesn’t matter what situation you were in, had been in at that time, you knew that he had been in the exact same situation at one time or another. It felt really good to be able to sit down next to someone who was supportive, who was a friend as well as your coach and a captain. Just learning from them and understanding the support.
“I’ll certainly be a player’s captain, I mean, just my relationships with the guys, the relationships that I’ve made are very special throughout the years. I played in this era not too long ago.
“To a lot of the guys, this is a coaching aspect as well. The bottom line is you want to win in this competition. A lot of these guys I played against. There’s a unique effect there, to be able to draw on past experiences of some of the guys I’m sure we will play in competition. That’s nice.
“I think the hardest part, which is the most exciting part as well for me, in my opinion, is just trying to mold together the future with the present. I think it will be easy. Everyone gets along really well. But that’s the most exciting and challenging part of all of it.”
To answer the first part of your question, Colombia, there are a lot of USTA sort of board members, there were a ton of people in Monte-Carlo, there were a ton of USTA people in Madrid. There weren’t very many in Bogota, Colombia. There weren’t that many of us that were there and really understood the conditions and how hard it was to play in that tie with pressure-less balls at 10,000 feet, figuring out the first day we got there we couldn’t walk up the stairs without being out of breath, playing 14 sets in three days. Certainly Davis Cup-wise, that was my most proud moment, there’s no doubt about it.
The last tie that I played 2012 in Switzerland, beating Wawrinka on the clay in singles, a long five-setter, then taking out that Federer guy with Mike Bryan.
It’s been a fun ride playing-wise in Davis Cup. Some lows, but certainly a lot of great memories. I just hope that continues.
The 37-year-old Fish reached the singles quarterfinals at three of the four majors and won a combined 14 ATP titles (six singles, eight doubles) before retiring from playing at the 2015 US Open. He also won the silver medal in singles at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Fish played in 11 Davis Cup ties for the U.S. from 2002-12 and is still the last U.S. Davis Cup player to win three live matches in a single tie, in a 3-1 World Group Playoff win in Colombia in 2010 that kept alive the U.S.’s now-record uninterrupted streak in the World Group. Fish’s two singles victories in that tie were five-setters, and he and Courier are the only U.S. Davis Cup players to win two five-set matches in the same tie. In his last Davis Cup playing appearance,
Fish beat Stan Wawrinka in five sets and teamed with Mike Bryan to beat Wawrinka and Roger Federer in a 5-0 sweep of Switzerland in the 2012 First Round.
“There weren’t very many (USTA Board members) in Bogota, Colombia. There weren’t that many of us that were there and really understood the conditions and how hard it was to play in that tie with pressure-less balls at 10,000 feet, figuring out the first day we got there we couldn’t walk up the stairs without being out of breath, playing 14 sets in three days. Certainly Davis Cup-wise, that was my most proud moment, there’s no doubt about it.
The last tie that I played 2012 in Switzerland, beating Wawrinka on the clay in singles, a long five-setter, then taking out that Federer guy with Mike Bryan.
It’s been a fun ride playing-wise in Davis Cup. Some lows, but certainly a lot of great memories. I just hope that continues.
After retiring in 2015, Fish worked part-time as a coach with USTA Player Development, helping to guide young Americans on tour, including Taylor Fritz and Jared Donaldson, through 2017.
