Mardy Fish fires brutal shot at American doubles specialist after journalist hints at Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from US Open mixed doubles

Mardy Fish took a nasty swipe at American doubles specialist Rajeev Ram after a prominent tennis journalist hinted at Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from the revamped mixed doubles event at this year's US Open. The journalist's hint stemmed from Sinner retiring mid-match during the men's singles final at the Cincinnati Open.

On Monday, August 18, reigning ATP singles No. 1 Sinner locked horns with Carlos Alcaraz for the men's singles crown in Cincinnati. However, the eagerly-awaited contest was over in just 20 minutes, as the Italian cited illness and subsequently retired.

This development led to journalist Jon Wertheim suggesting via an X (formerly Twitter) post that there's very little chance of Jannik Sinner featuring in the 2025 US Open's mixed doubles event, which commences on Tuesday, August 19. Wertheim also called on the US Open to hand out a mixed doubles wild card to Rajeev Ram, a 32-time ATP Tour-level doubles titlist and a former doubles No. 1.

"No way is Jannik Sinner pulling out of @CincyTennis today and then playing a mixed doubles event tomorrow.... We renew our appeal to give Rajeev Ram a @usopen a mixed wild card!," Wertheim wrote.

A few hours later, former ATP singles No. 7 Mardy Fish reacted to Wertheim's post, cynically doubting Ram's tennis credentials. Fish wrote:

"How bout another actual tennis player"

Sinner repaired with Katerina Siniakova for the mixed doubles event after Emma Navarro, who was initially set to partner the Italian, pulled out.

Rajeev Ram and Mardy Fish have history; doubles specialist laid bare troubled relationship last year

In an interview with Christopher Clarey published in September 2024, Rajeev Ram explained why he stopped talking to Mardy Fish after being dropped by the latter for the 2022 Davis Cup Finals knockout phase. At the time, Fish was serving as Team USA's Davis Cup captain, while Ram was the top-ranked men's doubles player in the world.

Ram said that his objection didn't stem from Fish not selecting him, but particularly from the Davis Cup captain picking an 'incomplete team'.

"The thing that I had the biggest problem with, and the reason I feel like we didn't do very well, is because we didn't take a complete team. That's something I'm honestly still probably not over, because I worked my butt off to try and help us get to the stage of qualifying for the final," Ram told Clarey.

Team USA was eventually ousted from the 2022 Davis Cup Finals in the quarterfinals.

About the author

Sudipto is a Tennis journalist at Sportskeeda holding a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has an experience of 3+ years across the market research, travel, health, lifestyle and sports sectors.

Sudipto has followed Tennis since the early 2000s and stays up-to-date with the sport by following both active and former Tennis players, and seasoned journalists. He also follows ATP and WTA updates, watches documentaries and interviews of professionals, and only reads esteemed publications. He sources all information for his articles only from credible publications stays away from unsubstantiated claims. In just a matter of 3 months, he has gained a readership of almost 2 million at Sportskeeda!

Sudipto admires Rafael Nadal for his fiercely competitive on-court nature and his ability to make memorable comebacks after injury layoffs. The Spaniard may be the GOAT for him, but he also respects the accomplishments of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Beyond Tennis, Sudipto also has an interest in music, football, and video games alongside cooking and traveling.

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Edited by Sudipto Pati