By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Andy Roddick defeated Mardy Fish in three sets to win the Western & Southern Tennis Masters tournament in Mason. Roddick, with the win, is the No. 1 ranked player in the world. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

MASON - A battle between friends turned into an epic championship match Sunday in the final of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

American superstar Andy Roddick and up-and-coming American Mardy Fish, friends since high school, played three sets and 36 games of tennis before Roddick won the title. Roddick, the No. 7 seed, saved two match points in his 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) win, the longest championship match at the Cincinnati tournament in terms of games since 1960.

Roddick collected a $400,000 winner's check, while Fish received $200,000 for his runner-up performance in his first-ever Tennis Masters Series final.

The total attendance for the main draw over the entire week at the Lindner Family Tennis Center was 124,672, virtually identical to last year's.

Roddick, a Tennis Masters Series winner last week in Montreal, became the first player since Andre Agassi in 2001 to win consecutive Tennis Masters Series championships. The 20-year-old Roddick will enter the U.S. Open Aug. 25 as a favorite to win his first grand slam title. He reached the semifinals at Wimbledon this year.

"Everything that happened this summer is out the door when you start a grand slam," said Roddick, who has won 12 matches in 13 days over the last two tournaments. "I'm happy for the summer I've had, but now I need to calm down, regroup and get ready for a whole new tournament. I'm a little tired right now."

Roddick is ranked No. 4 in the world and with Sunday's win moved into first place in the ATP Champions Race. The title is his fifth of the year.

Fish, meanwhile, emerged from relative tennis obscurity this week and will be seeded in the Top 32 at the U.S. Open. He didn't lose a single service game to Roddick and has won 74 consecutive service games but couldn't close out the match when he had two match points in the third set. Even in the loss, 21-year-old Fish improved his world ranking from No. 41 to at least No. 25 when the rankings come out today.

"Hopefully," Fish said, "this won't be my last final of a big tournament like this."

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