Where Are They Now? Part Three

Mardy Fish. In case you forgot, Mardy Fish once won an Olympic silver medal. It's hard to believe, but the American was just points away from winning an Olympic title in 2004. Since then, Fish has struggled with injury and, subsequently, with results. He started 2007 off with a bang, making the quarterfinals of the Aussie and then the semifinals at Memphis, rocketing to 25th in the rankings. But a 4-13 performance through the spring and summer has stalled Fish's success. After losing in the finals of New Haven, Fish took Tommy Robredo to five sets in the second round of the US Open. Now ranked 39th, Fish hopes to stay on the right track to returning to the Top 20, where he resided for most of 2004.

Melissa Torres. Melissa Torres is my (and Mexico's) darling of tennis. Since reaching a career-high at #233 earlier this year, Torres has teetered off a bit, losing 10 of her last 12 matches.

Mirjana Lucic. Lucic made a storming comeback at the Pacific Life earlier this year, exciting the media and fans across the globe. Lucic, however, hasn't been active since May and the 25-year-old may have too many personal issues (family, etc.) to make a full-fledged commitement to the WTA Tour.

Nicole Pratt. Is 34. And still playing. You go girl.

Sam Querrey. Earlier this year, Sam Querrey was America's poster-boy for the future. He had a spread in TENNIS Magazine, was in the midst of a hot summer playing good tennis and couldn't find a reason not to believe he could keep climbing up the rankings. However, then came John Isner. And then came the US Open. Isner rocketed his way onto the map and bumped Querrey out of the I'm-Tall-And-Going-To-Win-Majors-One-Day category, while Querrey lost an ugly match to Stefan Koubek at the Open and has since lost his last two.

Win Some, Lose Some

Americans Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish booked a quarterfinal clash on Sunday at the Australian Open while Ashley Harkleroad fell in her third-round match.

Roddick pulled out all the stops in his fourth-round encounter with 9th seeded Mario Ancic of Croatia, winning the match 6-3 3-6 6-1 5-7 6-4 in just over three hours.

Meanwhile, Fish continued his impressive form in Melbourne. The unseeded American, currently ranked 42nd in the world, took out 16th seeded David Ferrer in four sets, 6-1 7-6(4) 2-6 7-5.

Harkleroad did not fare as well, losing to 15th seeded Daniela Hantuchova 6-7(6) 7-5 6-3. The 21-year-old started off the match well, taking the first set and jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the second. Hantuchova surged back, however, breaking Harkleroad's serve at love to even the match at 5-all and winning eight of the next 11 games to advance to the fourth round.

While Roddick and Fish now assure an American birth in the semifinals, James Blake, the 5th seed, takes on Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round. Should Blake win over the hard-hitting South American, he will face either Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal.

Fish and Roddick are close friends, often hitting together at tournaments and practicing in Florida. The higher-seeded Roddick leads their head-to-head matchups 4-1, but shouldn't look to walk through the quarterfinal with ease. The last time the two met, in Memphis a year ago, Roddick needed a third-set tiebreak to get past Fish.

And while Serena Williams is currently leading Jelena Jankovic 3-0 in their third-round encounter (I love AO Radio), the American flag can fly a little higher today: four still alive and week two upon us.