Guillermo Garcia-Lopez rallies past Marcos Baghdatis into the second round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
World number 94, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, benefitted from the home conditions, as he stunned former world number eight, Marcos Baghdatis, in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain
on Monday. Garcia-Lopez needed two hours and 23 minutes to post the win over his opponent.
The Spaniard and Baghdatis made a steady start, not dropping their serves in the opening eight games and levelled the score at 4-4. Garcia-Lopez snatched two successive games afterwards, sealing it 6-4.
The 28-year-old pounded four aces and 74 percent of the first serves, claiming 14 of the 17 points on them. He was flawless on the second deliveries, as he did not lose any point on them, grabbing six out of six. On the other hand,
Baghdatis succeeded in pocketing just three of the seven points on the second serves in the opener.
Garcia-Lopez was looking to close out the match quickly, as he broke the Cypriotin the very first game of the second set to go up 1-0 but the Spaniard failed to capitalise on it, evening it out at 1-1. Baghdatis allowed Garcia-Lopez
to win just two of the next seven games, clinching it 6-3.
The Cypriot banged in three aces and kept his first serve percentage at 68, converting 17 of the 27 points on them in the second set. The 41st ranked player did not lag behind on the second deliveries and returns, as
he captured seven of the 13 and five of the nine points on them respectively. The 26-year-old avoided one of the two break threats he came across and utilised both of his own opportunities.
In a similar fashion to the opening set, Baghdatis and Garcia-Lopez started steadily in the decider, holding their serve in the first nine games and taking the score to 5-4 in favour of the Spanish. Garcia-Lopez struck the deciding
blow at that moment to win 6-4.
The La Roda, Spain resident fired a couple of aces and a single double fault in the decider. He had a low first serve percentage, delivering just 49 percent of the first serves but managed to win 14 of the 18 points on them. The
6ft 2in tall put away the only break point he faced and availed one of the eight chances he created.
Garcia-Lopez will face either Gilles Simon or Fabio Fognini in the second round.
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