MAKING THE TURN

Six years after saying goodbye to the protour grind, Mardy Fish may be more active than ever—on the court, on the course, and helping combat a struggle anyone can encounter

- Peter Bodo

The tennis year is scheduled to end with the second episode of the reformatted Davis Cup, which will take place in three different host cities (Nov. 25 to Dec. 5). The U.S. squad will play its group stages in Turin, Italy, under the leadership of captain Mardy Fish.

A former Davis Cup player himself, Fish is also a remarkably gifted golfer. He experienced a career-damaging struggle with anxiety and emerged as one of the first and most visible of elite athletes to go public with his story. The 39-year-old remains a spokesman and advocate for mental health awareness—an issue that leaped into the sporting forefront with Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from Roland Garros.

Have you been able to keep up with the players during the pandemic, and how do you rate their enthusiasm for Davis Cup?

A: The pandemic has made it tough to watch them live, but we keep in touch by text and phone. I used to be able to jump on the court to have a hit and come off thinking, “I can see why this kid is really good,” or, “I can see why he’s ranked No. 35.”

The older guys (John Isner, Sam Querrey, et al) remember what Davis Cup used to be; the young guys (Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Tommy Paul, et al) didn’t really experience it other than the new way. The enthusiasm level for the young guys seems pretty high. I haven’t even met some of the potential team members in person, like Sebastian Korda, but they all grew up watching Davis Cup. We haven’t skipped a generation yet, to where Laver Cup is something they know better than Davis Cup.