"Bet Roger Federer had his agent make them post this" - Mardy Fish hilariously reacts as Swiss' victory against him at Indian Wells 2005 resurfaces
Former tennis player Mardy Fish shared a hilarious reaction to Roger Federer beating him in Indian Wells back in 2005.
Federer set foot in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as the defending champion in 2005 and tasted success. He began his campaign by handing Fish a crushing defeat in the second round on March 13.
The Swiss bundled Fish out in 74 minutes on the back of four break points and the latter's five double faults to secure a 6-3, 6-3 win and reach the third round. Federer's victory over Mardy Fish recently resurfaced on X on its 19th anniversary.
Fish hilariously demanded the tweet about his defeat be removed instantly.
"Delete this immediately," the American wrote.
Furthermore, the former Top-10 player jokingly claimed that the tweet had been posted at the 20-time Grand Slam champion's behest.
"I bet Roger had his agent make them post this," Mardy Fish added.
Federer interestingly didn't drop a set throughout his week-long journey at Indian Wells that year. After overcoming Fish, he bettered Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-2 in the third round and Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(3), 7-6(4) in the fourth.
In the quarterfinals, he clashed with Germany's Nicolas Kiefer and prevailed 6-4, 6-1. The top seed then downed Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the final for the second year in a row. His campaign concluded with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over second seed Lleyton Hewitt in the best-of-five summit clash.
Notably, he won the tournament three more times in 2006, 2012, and 2017 and is tied with Novak Djokovic atop the all-time Indian Wells winners' list with five titles to his name.
Roger Federer has an 8-1 head-to-head lead over Mardy Fish
The 20-time Grand Slam champion and Mardy Fish battled on the court nine times between 2003 and 2012, with the Swiss leading 8-1 in the head-to-head.
The two first played against each other in the third round of Wimbledon 2003 when the Swiss defeated Fish 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. He went on to win the whole tournament which was his very first Grand Slam title.
Federer won four more duels before Fish managed his first and only success over him in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters in 2008, only to falter against Novak Djokovic in the final.
The last meeting between the two came in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, with the Swiss winning 6-3, 7-6(4).
Notably, the two were scheduled to face each other a few weeks later in the US Open fourth round but Mardy Fish withdrew due to mental health problems.