The biggest fish in the pond

The best American singles tennis player just lost in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. No, not Andy Roddick. Roddick lost in the third round to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, marking his second straight early exit at Wimbledon. No, not one of the Williams sisters. Their injuries and lack of consistency has been part of the reason that the women's game has not seen a dominant force in a few years. The best American is a player that most casual tennis fans don't know anything about. Yet, he is ranked 9th in a very deep men's pool, he has been improving his game constantly, he even just took Nadal to four sets at Wimbledon, and, right now, Mardy Fish is the only thing keeping American singles tennis at respectability.

Fish proved again that the tennis world needs to take notice with a dominant straight sets win over Tomas Berdych prior to his loss to Nadal. He has quietly shot up the world rankings, and passed Andy Roddick without many noticing. Yet, while Roddick's game is declining, Fish's is improving.

Aggression seems to be the key in Fish's surge. As his game has evolved, Fish has put more and more pressure on his opponents. Going into his match against Nadal, Fish had 73 aces and converted 120 out of his 172 points at the net in just 13 sets at Wimbledon. Earlier in his career, Fish was more content staying back and letting the game come to him. Always a talented volley player, Fish has recently been much better at picking his spots for a passing shot. He has also gone for the home run on his serve more, and it has payed off.

Fish's next step is getting a big win versus a big player. His loss to Nadal makes him 0-6 in his career against the world's #1 player. However, Fish has shown improvement against the world's elite on big stages recently. He did take a set against Nadal at Wimbledon, and was up a set before falling to Roger Federer 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 for the title in the Cincinnati Masters championship last year. If Fish can finally break through, he will make himself a household name amongst casual tennis fans.

Fish probably will never be the dominant force that Roddick was in his prime, and it will be extremely difficult for him to ever win a grand slam title. Still, with the decline of the country's elite, American tennis fans should be extremely thankful to have Mardy Fish.