No. 2 seed Fish falls in first round

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Bjorn Phau of Germany, ranked 77th in the world, upset second-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 Tuesday in a first-round match at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships. Top-seeded James Blake of the United States was to meet Guillermo Canas of Argentina in a later first-round match at River Oaks Country Club. Fish, ranked 28th, was the crowd favourite at the start of the match but by the third set, Phau's determined play started drawing scattered cheers. Phau broke Fish in the third game of the decisive set and served a love game in the fourth game. Phau closed out the victory with another break in the eighth game with a series of crowd-pleasing shots. Phau took Fish to the first match point with a sliding backhand that he shot down the line past the flat-footed Fish. Fish brought it back to deuce but then Phau ended it with two blazing backhand winners. Fish had Phau at break point in the seventh game of the third set before the German held with an ace at game-point. The match started with service breaks in the first two games. Fish lost his serve again in the eighth game of the opening set and Phau won it at the first set point in the ninth game on Fish's error. Fish closed the second set in the 12th game with a break, winning it on Phau's forehand error. Tommy Haas of Germany beat fellow countryman Denis Gremelmayr 6-3, 6-3.