Fish flops in Miama

Mardy Fish’s recent run of form came to an abrupt halt as the unseeded American went out in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

Fish beat three top-10 players, including world number one Roger Federer, on his way to the final at Indian Wells last week but Clement had few problems with the 26-year-old, whom he dispatched 6-3 6-3 in 69 minutes.

“It’s pretty tough to come back a couple of days later,” Fish said. “I mean, I only got here like two nights (ago).

“With that being said, it’s obviously a little disappointing to go out so early here. But I’m going to, obviously, take a lot of memories from last week.”

Marat Safin’s dismal season continued as the former world number one lost 7-6 (7/3) 4-6 7-6 (7/5) to American qualifier Bobby Reynolds.

Despite being unable to convert a match point on Safin’s serve, Reynolds rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the tie-break by winning four straight points to hand the Russian his fifth loss in six matches this season.

Gael Monfils of France came from a set down to defeat American wildcard John Isner 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-3 to book a second-round meeting with top seed Federer.

Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama secured her place in the second round of the women’s event with a straight-sets victory over Russian wild card Anastasia Pivovarova.

The 32-year-old, who is making her 14th appearance in the tournament, needed an hour and 49 minutes to eliminate the 17-year-old Russian 6-3 7-6 (7/2) in a hard-fought affair which featured 14 breaks of service.