Andy Murray battles past Marcos Baghdatis into the quarter-finals – London Olympics
Home favourite, Andy Murray, bounced back after a slow start to outlast Cypriot’s Marcos Baghdatis in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the third round of London Olympics on Wednesday.
Baghdatis did not allow the Brit to settle down in the match, breaking him in the very first game and holding his following serve to gain a 2-0 advantage. Though, Murray hit back immediately to level the score at 2-2. The Cypriot
played some brilliant strokes to break his opponent again in the seventh and consolidated on it to go up 5-3. Baghdatis did not allow the British player to stage a comeback this time, capturing it 6-4.
Murray raised the level of his game and looked like a completely different player in the second set, as he dropped only one game till the end, nailing two breaks of serve and making the most of his double advantage to win 6-1.
The British number one carried the winning momentum into the decider, as he struck in the opening game and held his subsequent serve to attain a 2-0 lead. The 25-year-old maintained his advantage throughout the final set and sealed
it 6-4.
During the post match press conference, Murray said, “Today, yeah, there was a fair amount of tension on the court. That’s probably why my celebration was what it was. It was a release of that tension. Hopefully I will play better
tomorrow. Marcos is ranked 40 or 50 in the world but when he plays his best tennis, he’s so, so tough to beat. That’s why you can’t really afford slow starts. I was lucky to get away with it today.”
Baghdatis, who reached the Australian Open final in 2006, is a former eighth ranked player. The Cypriot is current world number 45 but he plays remarkably well on the grass courts of All England Club. The right hander advanced
to the semi-finals and quarter-finals of the 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon Championships respectively.
Strong winds and light showers troubled both players throughout the contest. Murray added, “At the start it was very windy and it pretty much continued that way. I was pretty unsure of myself at the beginning. I didn’t feel comfortable
on the court.”
Murray will take on the 11th seed, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, in the quarter-finals. Almagro needed just an hour and 21 minutes to thrash Belgian contestant, Steve Darcis, in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the round of 16.
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