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2/15/09 3:37 PM | Ricky Dimon
Radek Stepanek and Mardy Fish will square off for the title in San Jose on Sunday afternoon. Stepanek is already seeking his second title of the season.
Although two seeded players will be battling for the trophy, this is not the final many expected when the SAP Open draw came out last weekend. With top two seeds Andy Roddick and Juan Martin Del Potro out of the way--along with No. 3 seed James Blake--it will be Radek Stepanek vs. Mardy Fish for the title in their third career meeting. Stepanek leads the head-to-head series with Fish a perfect 2-0, having won twice in 2007 in Los Angeles and at the Masters Series Cincinnati.
Stepanek should have a solid chance of making it 3-0 against Fish given his current form, even though it has been somewhat up-and-down in 2009. He started the season with a title in Brisbane, defeating Robin Soderling, Richard Gasquet, and Fernando Verdasco in his last three matches there. The 21st-ranked Czech, however, lost in the Sydney first round and got completely destroyed by an on-fire Fernando Verdasco in the third round of the Australian Open. Stepanek seems to be back on track in San Jose as the 2008 runner-up and current No. 4 seed. He defeated Dominik Meffert, Chris Guccione, and Todd Widom on his way to the semifinals, where he knocked out top-seeded Andy Roddick in a rematch of last year's San Jose final.
It's been difficult for Fish in the early going of 2009. He lost in the first round in both Brisbane and Sydney, and even though he reached the third round of the Australian Open, he then got blown out by Marcos Baghdatis. Still, Fish is ranked No. 24 in the world thanks primarily to a runner-up finish in New Haven last summer followed by a quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open. The 27-year-old American seems to be finding similarly impressive form in San Jose. He opened the week with a straight-set win over Lleyton Hewitt, survived John Isner 7-5 in the third, and on Friday upset No. 2 seed Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 6-4. In the semifinals he eased past an injured James Blake 6-3, 6-2.
Another factor to consider in this match is the two players' history in ATP finals. Stepanek is 3-5 with a title on the line; not great, but respectable. Fish, on the hand, has won an abysmal two of his 11 final appearances. Fish has been serving incredibly well at the SAP Open and that could help him overcome any mental block of playing in an ATP title match. Both men should be armed with a ton of confidence, but perhaps Stepanek to an even greater extent since he already has one tournament win this year and given his huge semifinal victory over Roddick. Stepanek in another three-set battle is the pick.
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Radek Stepanek
Mardy Fish
SAP Open
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