Fish serves big to see off Rochus

Newport: Mardy Fish overpowered Olivier Rochus with 17 aces to win the Newport International title 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday.

"I served great, and I needed to for sure," fifth seed Fish told reporters. "I served great when I needed to in that last game."Fish served 24 aces to win his fourth ATP World Tour event and his first since the Delray Beach International in March 2009. "It means a lot to win now on every surface in my career - indoor, outdoor, hard, clay and grass," Fish said. "I`ve certainly lost a lot of heartbreak finals, and it feels good to win one." Both players held serve through the first 10 games of the opening set before fourth-seeded Rochus broke Fish and the Belgian converted on his second set point to take the first set. Leading 2-1 in the second, Fish broke Rochus and held serve, punctuating the set with his 15th ace of the match. It was the first set lost by Rochus in the tournament. Fish capitalised on his fourth service break opportunity at 4-4 in the decider and broke Rochus again to set up victory."I was feeling really good on the court," Rochus said. "It was just one or two points. The last two games were so close." "But Mardy was pushing hard at the end and his serve was really good, so maybe he deserved it a little more." Bureau Report