Mardy Fish looks at TV broadcasting career when he retires after U.S. Open

WASHINGTON -- Tennis fans sad to see Mardy Fish hang up his racket after the U.S. Open might not have to wait so long to see him return.

Fish, who with Grigor Dimitrov won his first-round doubles match 6-7, 7-6, 10-8 against Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil on Monday at the Citi Open, is pulling double duty in the Nation's Capital. The former world No. 1 is co-hosting Tennis Channel’s live pregame show each day of the tournament.

Fish originally had only Atlanta, Cincinnati, and the U.S. Open on his playing schedule to close out his career.

“I had added this for Tennis Channel to try that out for the week, thought it would be a good idea if I was here to play some doubles as well," Fish said. "I’m doing the pregame show, just trying it out. Seeing how it feels on the other side of the microphone. Today was the first show. It went OK, I got a little bumbled up in one segment but it was fine.

“I got a lot of friends who work for the Tennis Channel, and they saw I wasn’t playing this week when I announced my schedule. So they offered to see if I wanted to come here and try it out. It’s just sort of a fun trial thing to see how it goes.”

Fish returned to the ATP Tour in March after an 18-month absence from the sport as he dealt with a heart problem that became a mental illness problem. Regular panic attacks kept him from leaving his house for months.

Now back to being healthy with the finish line in sight, Fish may follow close friend and fellow athlete-turned-broadcaster Andy Roddick’s post-retirement path -- though Fish insists the Tennis Channel gig is a short-term deal.

“It’s been in the works for a month,” Fish said. “I asked Andy and Justin Gimelstob and Brett Haber, who does it, to give me tips and stuff but it’s so new for me. I’m not quick-witted like those guys, Andy’s really quick and Justin’s really quick, I’m not quick like them.”

Any tricks of the trade his broadcast buddies handed down to Fish?

“Explain why it’s happening, not what is happening, maybe, something like that?” Fish explained. “I really took it to heart.”