21.01.10 - AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2010
Congratulations Marcos!
Our Champion, exhibiting one of his best performances so far in the 1st Grand Slam of the year, entered the 3rd round of the Mens Singles event, after an epic 5-set match against David Ferrer, winning by 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The battle among the two top players lasted nearly 4 hours and 15 minutes with the "crowd's favourite" Marcos Baghdatis, coming back from a 0-2 down lead by Ferrer, to win the ticket to the round of 32 in 5 sets.
The beginning of the match was characterised by long baseline rallies with both players holding serve and being unable to convert various break-points. It was Ferrer who managed to break Baghdatis serve at 4-4 and take hold of the first set. The next set continued in the same momentum with Ferrer having the lead and after a critical break, managing to take the 2nd set 6-3.
The real battle started in the 3rd set with both players holding serve again and taking the set to a tie-breaker. Ferrer managed to save two set-points, however, it was our champion who took the intitiative of the match and went ahead to win the tie-break. This was the most critical time in the match where it was obvious that Ferrer was unable to follow Baghdatis momentum, in the meantime, showing running out of the required physical strength, to sustain the pressure forced by the Cypriot Warrior!
From then on, it was Baghdatis turn to take the upper hand in the match. The Champ with the strong heart passed furiously through the next two sets, giving no chances to Ferrer who was unable to reply. Baghdatis who was also floored on court with cramps at the end, managed to sustain his mental strength, bring the match to an end and set the rhythm for the fans to start celebrations on court!
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