Mardy Fish tries to carry the torch for U.S. men at Wimbledon

It is lonely for Mardy Fish. He’s the only American man left in the singles draw as Wimbledon resumes Monday with all the fourth-round matches for men and women on the schedule and 90-degree heat forecast.

“It doesn’t feel great,” said Fish of the fact that, as happened at the French Open, before a two-week major is half finished, the U.S. is not representing.

“I want the guys here,” Fish said. “So that’s a bit of a bummer I guess.”

Fish is married to former UCLA player Stacey Gardner and is so unfamous that Fish, the 10th-seeded man at the world’s biggest tournament, was asked who gets recognized more when they’re out and about in Los Angeles, which is where he and Gardner live.

“We don’t get recognized much at all,” Fish said.

Despite a game that seems well suited to the grass courts of the All England Club — Fish serves well, can produce a better-than-average volley and knows how to hit the low, sliced balls that can be so effective on grass — he had never reached the fourth round in his eight previous appearances here.

And if Fish is to advance further, he will need to pull an upset. He will play sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, a 26-year-old from the Czech Republic who upset Roger Federer at the tournament last year and made it to the final.

Fish tried a different tactic this year from his usual routine. Instead of staying in Europe after losing at the French Open — which, for American players who compete fully on the clay-court circuit and then go straight to grass-court prep often means two months or more away from the U.S. — he went home.

“Just sleeping in your own bed for 10 days in a row helps a lot,” he said. “You just kind of regroup mentally because it’s such a long year.”

Who’s got next?

Tennis is always looking for the next big thing. Bernard Tomic might be that thing.

For the first time since 1990, when Michael Chang and Goran Ivanisevic did it, Tomic of Australia became the first 18-year-old to make it to the men’s fourth round.

Tomic, who made the main draw through qualifying, upset fifth-seeded Robin Soderling on Saturday and even if Soderling was feeling ill, the accomplishment was major for Tomic.

“I’d love to win another round,” Tomic said. “I think I can win.”

His task is not impossible. Next up is unseeded Belgian Xavier Malisse, 30, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2002.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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