Fish Relives Stressful Moment; Ready For Finals Campaign

© Getty ImagesMardy Fish speaks to written media at The O2 on Friday.

Mardy Fish admitted on Friday that the past month has been arguably the most stressful of his career as he battled to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time.

"I didn't know what to expect," said Fish at Alphabet City, in The O2, on Friday. "I knew the guys who were sixth, seventh and eighth had a nice cushion going into the last couple of events of the year. During that period, I was the most stressed out - the most I have ever been in my career - because I didn't know how many points we were ahead and whether it would matter.

"It was a great experience, the entire thing. All the way through - even some of the sleepless nights. I would wake up and check ATPWorldTour.com all the time to see if anyone had played at 2am that morning and gained extra points."

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The World No. 8 has been drawn in Group B alongside Rafael Nadal, defending champion Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He insists he will be ready for Sunday's first match against Nadal.

"I feel a lot better physically than I did seven days ago, so that is encouraging for me," said Fish. "It [groin strain] has gotten a tonne better since [the BNP Paribas Masters in] Paris. I would have liked to have played more matches coming in for sure, but I am trying to get in as many practise sessions as I can. I'm not taking anything for granted. The conditions here are a little different to those in The O2 bubble and at Queen's Club though."

The American's first qualification for the season finale is born out of the need to change at the end of the 2009 season, when he was ranked No. 55 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. It was at this time, he realised he must work harder to realise his tennis goals.

"The end of 2009, was really an 'ah-ha' moment, when I knew that I needed to make changes," he said. "If I was going to go out, I wanted to do some pretty cool things and do things I'd never done before. I wasn't a terrible player, but sometimes I'd have good results, then months would go by before my next big result. Sometimes, maybe I was too satisfied, didn't play well or was not fit enough. The consistency wasn't there."

Fish, who has support from his wife and parents in London ahead of Thanksgiving, insists, "I know, personally, that I can put my head on my pillow knowing that I am doing everything I can work ethic wise to enjoy the route of playing great events, which sometimes I took for granted when I was younger."

The 29-year-old Fish has compiled a 43-22 match record on the season, including a sixth ATP World Tour title and defence at the Atlanta Tennis Championships (d. Isner). He also finished runner-up at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles (l. to Gulbis) and the Rogers Cup in Montreal (l. to Djokovic).