Mardy Fish lost in the quarter finals of the Legg Mason Classic in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) this afternoon against 18 year old Andy Murray of Great Britain (actually he’s Scottish). Mardy was the last American standing in the tournament.

After Clement (France) took out Hewitt (Australia) at the noon match (also in straight sets) there remains only Safin (Russia) who represent players of any caliber worth watching. Tim Henman is also out. I think the tournament was doomed from the start, with the extreme heat and humidity coinciding with the start of play, Roddick pulling out, and Agassi losing in the first round against a qualifier…all this adds up to poor ratings and attendance. From my vantage point via TV, I could see the seats were less than half occupied.

The women’s draw was even more pathetic, I hardly recognized any of the names and never watched a single match. Of course most of them are playing in the Acura Classic in San Diego. I couldn’t help myself, I hung on to watch Sharapova spank Mary Pierce, also in straight sets in that one. Russia my ass, she’s lived in the States for years (Florida). With the state of tennis in the US, which is sliding down the slipery slope in a big hurry, you’d think Sharapova would switch “citizenships.”