Fish praises the fast pace on Dubai surface

Dubai: American Mardy Fish was full of praise for the centre court surface at Dubai Tennis Stadium following his routine 6-1, 6-1 victory over Germany's Andreas Beck.

The world No 8 has taken a shine to the increased speed on offer when compared to some of the other events on the ATP Tour.

"It's nice to have at least a tournament or two that's a quicker surface on the tour these days. They've slowed everything down. They've slowed Wimbledon down, they've slowed the US Open down. And so it's nice to have something like this," Fish told media after his defeat of Beck that was as quick as the surface.

"Montreal was the fastest surface of the year last year, Cincinnati is usually relatively quick. A lot of that has to do with the weather as well. But this court is quick. It's playing fast, especially during the day.

Nice variety

"And it's nice to get that sort of variety a little bit. We've lost the variety, no doubt about it. There are hardly any faster-surface tournaments any more. I love them. There should be a couple more at least. I'm glad it's here and I'm glad I'm here." The 30-year-old American further backed the faster elements of tennis by considering that there is a growing number of players such as Milos Raonic, Ivo Karlovic and John Isner who are all big servers.

"Those guys serve so big that they can play through it. Some of those surfaces don't matter. But it just brings upon the level of fitness that is much higher now. It is all about the level of consistency and staying healthy week in and week out," Fish said.

"When they slow them down there are other factors as well. A guy that may not be as fit but has a bigger or faster game on a faster surface may get away with it. But you can't get away with it on slower courts, so you've got to be much fitter. So it goes both ways."