Sports

Ailing Fish planning to play

When Mardy Fish’s four-set triumph over Gilles Simon ended at 1:09 a.m. yesterday to set up today’s fourth-round showdown with Roger Federer, he was excused from his mandatory post-match press conference. Fish was undergoing medical treatment.

According to tournament officials, Fish is still battling a cardiac condition related to a rapid heartbeat. The plan was for Fish to meet the media yesterday after his practice, but Fish was still not feeling well and didn’t show up on the grounds.

The 25th-ranked Fish, who committed a ghastly 75 unforced errors, is expected to go through with his 1 p.m. match vs. Federer today at Ashe Stadium, but it may not be pretty.

Fish, 30, is 1-8 vs. the Swiss Maestro, who hasn’t dropped a set at the Open. They met in Cincinnati last month and Federer posted a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win. Fish’s only victory over Federer came in 2008 at Indian Wells.

Asked on the court what he has to do to post the upset today, Fish said: “I have no idea. A lot more than I did today.’’

* Early-bird fans were treated to a wonderful first two sets on Armstrong Stadium yesterday between aging Lleyton Hewitt and No. 4 seed David Ferrer that featured the tournament’s best tiebreaker. Ferrer prevailed in the first-set tiebreaker 11-9, winning a classic set point as the Spaniard tracked down two impossible angled volleys by Hewitt, going from one side of the court to the other. Hewitt bounced back to take the next set before wearing down. Ferrer advanced in a 7-6 (11-9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in a three-hour-12-minute match.

* Juan Martin del Potro’s 3 1/2-hour victory also featured a 20-point tiebreaker to close out his win over countryman Leonardo Mayer. It featured a Mayer shot that hit the net post, which is wide of the court, then caromed onto the court. “Was unbelievable point,’’ said Del Potro, who is into the fourth round for the first time since winning the 2009 Open in posting a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (11-9) win. … Two-time NCAA champion Steve Johnson’s Open run was ended in the third round yesterday by 13th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.