Mardy Fish reveals he had heart surgery

Mardy Fish had surgery to repair a heart ailment that has kept him out of action since April, USA Today reported.

He had the procedure, called cardiac catheter ablation, on May 23 to correct misfiring electrical pulses in his heart.

The 30-year-old player started to feel the symptoms back in February, waking up in the middle of the night with extreme palpitations that doctors explained were a form of arrhythmia. He said he thought he was going to die.

Fish eats healthily on a show by Bumble Bee Foods 

(Via US Today, Image via Bumble Bee Foods)

TENNIS WATCH: Kid's Day, Minar denies doping, Agassi opens up, Srichaphan's adult product

James Blake and Mardy Fish attended Kid's Day at the Pilot Pen tennis tournament in New Haven yesterday.

Blake, however chose not to enter the tournament in order to prepare for the US Open.

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Czech tennis player Ivo Minar was tested positive for a banned substance after a Davis Cup quarterfinal victory over Argentine on July 10-12.

Minar was said to have taken an unspecified supplement that apparently contained a derivative of the banned stimulant pseudoephedrine.

Currently ranked at no. 66, he denied he had never 'consciously' taken a banned substance.

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Andre Agassi’s autobiography, OPEN, is heading to book stores in November.

In the book, Agassi discusses his start in tennis as a child, his relationship with his father and his failed marriage to Brooke Shields.

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Is Paradorn Srichaphan selling adult product?

According to Srichaphan, he hoped his latest business, a herbal-product company called Magic Thaiherbs, will not tarnish his image as a national hero.

"Unlike Viagra, my product is more like a tonic which is good for men's bodies. When men are happy and healthy, they make married life better,'' said the former Thai no.1.

Mardy Fish met his match at the Sydney Aquarium

Mardy Fish and his wife Stacy Gardner were VIP guests at the Sydney Aquarium where they had a chance to get up close and personal with the city’s most popular animal... sharks!

Check out the video after these photos.



(Via Medibank Sydney official website)

Wedding bells: Mardy Fish seals deal with Stacey Gardner

Tennis star Mardy Fish weds model Stacey Gardner in a lovely ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA on September 28, 2008.


Mardy and Stacey Gardner became engaged on November 13, 2007. She is a certified attorney in California and one of the briefcase models on the TV game show Deal or No Deal.

The nuptials were attended by fellow tennis pros and bros James and Thomas Blake.

James Blake (right)

Thomas Blake (left)

Also present at the wedding were Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett and wife Brandi.

Andy Roddick missed the wedding as he was playing at the China Open final, which he eventually won.

Updates:
(via People.com)

Gardner, a model on TV's Deal or No Deal, had six bridesmaids in black dresses. (The bash was overseen by wedding planner Linda Howard, from Sensational Celebrations, while Mark's Garden provided the flowers.)

After the 30-minute Jewish ceremony, the couple walked back down the aisle hand-in-hand while wedding guests waved little sparklers and a live band played U2's "Beautiful Day." Awww... so sweet...

They then headed to a reception in the hotel's ballroom.

(Images via zimbio.com)

Mardy Fish to replace injured Bob Bryan for US

Injured doubles player Bob Bryan has been replaced on the U.S. team by Mardy Fish for the Davis Cup semifinal against Spain this weekend, the second high-profile loss for the American side.

Bryan is recovering in the U.S. after receiving a cortisone shot for an inflamed left shoulder, team spokesman Tim Curry said.

The U.S. Davis Cup team pose before a press conference in Madrid. Left to right: Sam Querrey, Andy Roddick, team captain Patrick McEnroe, Mike Byran and Mardy Fish.

Singles player James Blake, who has been a regular on the U.S. team since 2005, pulled out last week citing exhaustion.

It will be the first time in 16 Davis Cup matches that Bryan and his twin brother, Mike, won’t play together. The Bryans, who are 14-2 since debuting in 2003, helped the U.S. win the Davis Cup last year.

“I aggravated it pretty bad at the (U.S.) Open and only made things worse,” Bryan said on the Davis Cup Web site. “I knew if I wanted a chance to play the rest of this year, I had to shut it down now. I can’t even hit any balls.”

The 23rd-ranked Fish practiced on the clay Tuesday with Mike Bryan and could line up with him in doubles.

Andy Roddick during a practice session at the Las Ventas Bullring in Madrid.

The U.S. team's Andy Roddick, left, plays the ball to Sam Querrey during a practice.

The other team members are Andy Roddick and Sam Querrey, who replaced Blake.

“When you have a pair like the Bryans that know each other well … a match against them is always difficult,” Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario said.

“But Fish reached the quarters of Australian and U.S. Open and comes with talent even if he doesn’t play doubles in a consistent fashion.”

The best-of-five series begins Friday with two singles matches, followed by the doubles on Saturday and reverse singles Sunday.

Fish is 5-5 in Davis Cup play, including 4-4 in singles and 1-1 in doubles. His last appearance was in 2004, when he won one singles match and lost another as Spain beat the U.S. in the final in Seville.

The matches will be played on red clay at the Las Ventas bullfighting arena.

The Spanish team is led by No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal.

Spain's team captain Emilio Sanchez, speaks during a press conference. Left to right: Rafael Nadal, Emilio Sanchez, Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro.

Rafael Nadal doesn't really enjoy press conference.

Though Spain appears the overwhelming favourite now, Sanchez Vicario said the team was doing some adjusting of its own to the Spanish capital’s high altitude.

“The altitude is something that influences the game very much, but we feel positive here and we will look to play the best we can,” he said. “We came here early to accustom ourselves to it.”

(Via AP Sports, Images by Yahoo! Sports)

Caroline Wozniacki, Marin Cilic win Pilot Pen titles

Unseeded Caroline Wozniacki won the women’s Pilot Pen title, her second career victory, beating top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

She won her first WTA Tour win in Stockholm, then reached the third round at the Olympics, where she lost to eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva.

“Stockholm was in Scandinavia, it was my first tournament and it was smaller than this,” she said. “Here, it’s the tournament before the U.S. Open, and it’s a really big tournament. You know, I have beaten some really great players on my way to win this tournament.”

Wozniacki has moved up from No. 64 in January to No. 22, and is expected to break into the top 20 for the first time.

The teenager still has a year of high school left, and said until recently, she considered her biggest tennis achievement beating her older brother.

In the men's singles, Marin Cilic, world ranked no. 31, won his first ATP Tour event in front of the American crowd, beating local Mardy Fish 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

The 19-year-old Croat, seeded sixth, made a tough stand all week to emerge as a possible threat at the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year, which starts next Monday in New York.

"I'm unbelievably excited," Cilic said. "I was a little bit nervous in the beginning of the third set. I got my rhythm back. I was really pumped up when I had to be. Really enjoyed the moment in the end."

The 6-foot-6 Croat has now compiled a 31-21 on the season (18-12 on hard courts). He is the second Croat after Ivo Karlovic to capture an ATP title this season.

(Images by Elsa/Getty Images)