Mardy Fish will compete in the Winston-Salem Open at Wake Forest University, Aug. 17-24, as a wild card, Tournament Director Bill Oakes announced. Fish is in comeback mode this year after being sidelined by heart-related issues for much of the past two seasons.

Fish returned to action from a three-month layoff last month and only has played six matches all year heading into this week’s Emirates Airline US Open Series event in Cincinnati. His 2012 season ended after the US Open because of the health issues.

Fish was playing the best tennis of his life before the heart issues were revealed in the spring of 2012. He reached a career-high of No. 7 in the ATP World Tour rankings in August 2011 and spent 10 months in the Top 10 from June of 2011 of April of 2012. Throughout much of that stretch he was the top-ranked American.

 

Dedicated to a new training regimen, he had a phenomenal 2010 with titles in Newport and Atlanta, plus trips to the finals at the Rogers Cup Masters event and at London's Queen's Club tournament. He won in Atlanta again in 2011 and continued to climb up the rankings. Problems were apparent early in 2012 and news eventually surfaced about his heart condition, leading to surgery in May 2012.

"The post-traumatic experiences that I’ve had are what I need to get over right now," Fish said at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., three weeks ago. "It’s still a process, there’s no doubt about it. I still feel a little uneasy and that’s to be expected. It’s not going to be roses right away. It’s not an easy game, and these are tough tournaments."

Because of the inactivity associated with his health problems, he has dropped to No. 129 in the latest rankings.  The 31-year-old owns six ATP World Tour singles titles and has been to 14 other finals. He was also the 2004 Olympic silver medalist.
 
"The addition of Mardy makes our previously announced field of top-ranked world competitors even stronger," Oakes said. "Mardy grew up in Blowing Rock, and we’re thrilled that he’s coming to Winston-Salem as part of his comeback career."

Tickets to the Winston-Salem Open are available online at WinstonSalemOpen.com/tickets, by calling (336) 758-6409 or in person at the Wake Forest ticket office located at Bridger Field House at BB&T Field.