DAVIS CUP QUALIFIERS: USA VS COLOMBIA

March 5, 2022

Mardy Fish

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tell us how it feels to get it done, get back in the win column.

MARDY FISH: First step of the year. Obviously a great result. We clearly can lose to them and did last time we played them. They're very tricky. Nico, you can't kill that guy. He never goes away. Two breaks in a set, 3-0, dead rubber, and you still can't kill him. Pretty impressive. Much respect to them and their team, captain.

But as far as we go, this was the first step of the process of trying to win this thing this year. I think we've got a great opportunity with the guys that we have and the depth that we have.

I'll head over to Indian Wells and watch some of the guys that weren't on the team, Frances, Reilly, a few others. This is a process. We've got about eight guys or so that are part of it. The five guys that were here, a few others that weren't. Just because the guys weren't here doesn't mean they're not part of the process, part of the team.

Step one complete and we'll move on to September.

Q. 'Passion' was the word that got thrown around. Talk about that now on the other side. What did you see out of the guys this week?

MARDY FISH: I thought they matched it really well. Look, part of that was Nicolas and how he competed. We saw that last November. Man, does he try hard. Maybe he's a bit of an anomaly as well.

I left Turin, the bunch of us left Turin, with a bad taste in our mouth for sure. We figured we could do better on that front. We certainly did this week.

We had a couple different guys in there. Obviously Sebastian for the first time, which is great, to get the match under his belt. Having Tommy back in the mix again was awesome. They're great teammates. That's all we ask for.

Q. Do you see that on and off the court, too, that attitude?

MARDY FISH: You see the camaraderie. You see the team aspect of it, right? These guys don't talk a whole lot of tennis away from the tennis, away from the courts and stuff. But there's a lot of mutual admiration, mutual respect and friendship there that these guys have for each other. That certainly showed this week.

Q. Can you say how Jack's forehand compares to the great forehands, like Roger, Rafa, DelPo.

MARDY FISH: Look, it's hard to say. A couple of those guys you mentioned were all timers, Roger, Rafa. Jack has major weapons, major weapons. That's exactly what you need on the high level of professional sport, in any sport. You need big weapons. He's got a lot of weapons.

I'm one of his biggest fans certainly. I love watching him play. I love watching him play doubles. I love watching him play singles. I'm rooting for him like we all are to get his singles game back up there. I know he's working his butt off and is trying as hard as he can. That's all you can ask from him.

I'd love to start him in singles. Certainly feel super comfortable putting him out there in the doubles obviously. He sees all these young guys. They're all confident and have great results and stuff. He's had that type of success. It's been a bit. It's been a minute.

Trust me, he's working to get back there and to get back. Weeks like this hopefully can catapult him into next week and beyond to get his singles back to where we know, you and I both know, where he can be.

Q. Jenson Brooksby had a fabulous year. Do you see him as a factor?

MARDY FISH: No doubt. I can't wait to get him on the team. His passion for just winning a first round of a 250 is pretty incredible. I can't imagine having him play Davis Cup.

Yeah, can't wait to get him involved. His trajectory has been pretty great. He's a guy with such a unique game, such an interesting game.

Yeah, to answer your question in short, I can't wait to watch him play for his country.

Q. What did you hear this week from some of the guys from your generation? James, Andy, have they been reaching out?

MARDY FISH: Yeah, most ties they all reach out. Jim has been a major asset for me in terms of bouncing things off him certainly early on. I've done a few of these now to sort of get the ins-and-outs of how to captain something.

I just had so much respect for him, the situations that he had been in as a player and a captain, pretty much any situation you could imagine he'd been in. I always loved sitting down next to that, understanding he's been in the situation that I'm in right now as a player.

I'm trying to instill that in guys, instill that sort of confidence in guys to know they can sit down next to their captain. I've been in these scenarios and situations as well, just to help in any way possible.

They don't need me on the side either. That's the unique part about Davis Cup, right? Sebie is a little more quiet than Taylor. Taylor won't stop talking. Sebie won't start talking. It's finding the personalities in the mix of how to motivate on the side without getting in the way. Petrified of getting in the way of things. I'm not around on a daily basis with their practices, what they deal with.

I try to pick their coaches' brains and things like that. I love having their coaches as well. Dean Goldfine was here all week with Sebie. I sit next to them, listen to what they work on, some of the keys to their game. You try not to get in the way. You try to reiterate some of the things you learned throughout the week, watching throughout the year, watching from afar.

I can't feel like a captain would or should come in if they're not around a whole lot. I watch the guys every week, but I'm not there live. It's difficult. I'm not there at practice. It's difficult to understand what they're working on, the ins-and-outs of what they want to do in their games.

Just trying to keep them as positive as I can and motivated as I can and instill the passion, will to win for your country and for your teammates, in them as much as I can.