Frog Alum win ATP doubles title
7/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
July 21, 2008
Ashley Fisher, a four-year letterwinner for the TCU men's tennis team from 1994-97, earned his fourth career win as a professional on the ATP Tour Sunday during the doubles competition of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, a hard court tournament held at the Indianapolis Tennis Center.
Fisher, playing alongside fellow Australian Tripp Phillips, posted a 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 victory over unseeded Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin in the final of the doubles draw in Indianapolis. The win marked the duo's second victory together following a win in Tokyo in 2006 (d. Goldstein/Thomas). The two players, which entered last week's tournament unseeded, also reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open together in 2006.
"Tripp and I have played a lot of great matches," Fisher said following the team's victory Sunday. "We knew we were capable of winning the tournament. We've never lost a final together.
"It's been a challenging year for me. I had knee surgery in the early part of the year, and I've really struggled up until the last few weeks. This shows that I've steered the ship in the right direction. It was nice to get another win."
Fisher, a product of New South Wales, Australia, experienced a decorated career as a Horned Frog. A two-time All-American in 1996 and 1997, he won individual Southwest Conference championships at No. 5 singles in 1995 and No. 4 singles in 1996. Fisher and former Frog teammate Jason Weir-Smith finished as the runners-up in doubles competition at the 1996 NCAA Championships.
On the ATP tour, Fisher reached a career-high doubles ranking of No. 24 on Oct. 9, 2006. In addition to his two doubles titles playing alongside Phillips, he also posted victories in 2003 in Amersfoort and 2007 in Beijing. He reached the semifinals of the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, a grass court tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, with South African teammate Rik De Voest the week before his latest win.
