Fish powers past Darcis in Madrid

Oct 13, 2008 - 11:40 PM MADRID, Spain (Ticker) -- Mardy Fish powered his way to an impressive victory in the $3 million Mutua Madrilena Masters.

Making his first appearance since a spirited run at the U.S. Open, Fish rolled past Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis, 6-1, 6-4, in Monday's opening round of the ATP Masters Series event.

Fish, 26, matched his best career Grand Slam effort last month at Flushing Meadows, where he advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

Fish had taken the past five weeks off while getting married, but the Minnesota native was sharp in his opener at this hardcourt tournament. He fired 13 aces against only one double-fault, converting 24-of-25 first-serve points in a match that lasted just 1 hour, 10 minutes.

The world No. 25, Fish improved his overall record to 31-21 this season. He moved on to a second-round match with 15th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who received an opening-round bye.

The loaded draw at this Masters Series event is headlined by Nadal and world No. 2 Roger Federer, the reigning U.S. Open champion and a finalist here last year.

All of the top 16 seeds were given first-round byes.

The defending champion here is No. 7 David Nalbandian. The Argentine will open against Czech Tomas Berdych, who rolled past Rainer Schuettler of Germany, 6-1, 6-2.

Nalbandian owns a 3-1 record against Berdych, including a three-set win in the second round here last year.

Another opening-round winner Monday was Italian Simone Bolelli, who outlasted Spain's Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

Bolelli next will face fourth seed Andy Murray, who will be playing in a singles tournament for the first time since reaching his first Grand Slam final at Flushing Meadows. This will be the Brit's first meeting with Bolelli.

Other first-round winners Monday were Gilles Simon of France, Tommy Robredo of Spain and Marin Cilic of Croatia.

First prize is just over $490,000.