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Fans bid farewell to Mardy Fish

Mardy Fish reacts after losing a point to Feliciano Lopez, of Spain, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Mardy Fish reacts after losing a point to Feliciano Lopez, of Spain, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NEW YORK – It looked as though Mardy Fish was going to pull off the upset. Leading No. 18 Feliciano Lopez by a set on a hot and humid Wednesday in New York, he earned a break at 4-4 in the fourth set.

It meant he could serve out the win to move on to the third round. But just as quickly as he built that opportunity, it slipped away.

Three double faults gave Lopez the break, then Lopez won the next two games to force a deciding fifth set.

The missed opportunity brought fans from around the U.S. Open grounds. A group of women from Philadelphia rushed in to find seats. "Mardy needs us!" they squealed. "We've been listening. I can't believe he missed that."

"He came so close. It's going to be so disappointing if he can't pull it off," a man said. His wife added that it's like having bases loaded with no outs, and failing to score.

Fish later said he knew that moment was critical. "I certainly felt like that was, you know, my opportunity, big-time opportunity to really capitalize," he said. "But, you know, once that had sort of [come] and gone, I knew I was sort of in trouble because of, you know, the way my legs felt. I tried as hard as I could to hydrate as best I could. I did everything I could."

At 2-2 in the fifth, fans were calling for him to attack. "Right here," they yelled. "It has to be right here." But as Fish, 33, squandered two more double-break point opportunities, the mood in the stadium slowly turned from excitement to appreciation as fans realized they were watching the final moments of his career.

Fish has never acheived phenomenal results in New York. His best was the quarterfinals in 2008. He hasn't even played here since 2012, when anxiety disorder started to send his career into a tailspin. He'd already announced that this, his 13th U.S. Open, would be his final professional tournament.

He beat U.S. Open-newcomer Marco Cecchinato in the first round. That set up Wednesday's meeting with Lopez in Louis Armstrong Stadium. It was a fitting place for Fish to say goodbye. A favorite venue on the U.S. Open grounds, this entire fortnight is a farewell to the stadium. It's scheduled to be torn down as soon as the tournaments ends. A new stadium will replace Armstrong in time for the 2016 U.S. Open, just as younger American players have already started to replace Fish in the minds of many.

By 5-3 in the fifth set, Fish was grippng his ankle in his hands, attemptng to stretch his quad. He doubled over at one point. His body was giving out. Lamenting the end of his career, one fan stated the obvious, saying "Well, everyone's gotta go sometime." Lopez closed out the win, 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

"I'm very comfortable knowing how hard I have worked in the later stages of my career," Fish said after his match. "I accomplished everything that I set out to this summer, and I'm happy about that."

When the announcer called Fish's name one last time, fans stayed on their feet for an extended ovation, bidding farewell to the veteran.