Marcos Baghdatis bags win over Steve Darcis in 3rd round – Winston-Salem Open 2011
Finishing off in almost 74 minutes, Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus, defeated his 3rdround Winston-Salem Open opponent, Steve Darcis of Belgium in straight sets to walk into the quarter-final round. Playing at the Wake Forest
University, the two forced on each other; however, the Cypriot overpowered and took the win 7-5 and a bagel.
Playing on the hard courts of Wake Forest, Baghdatis had the upper edge in the fixture as the Cypriot had been playing most of his earlier matches on hard court.
Baghdatis, starting off in 2003, hiked up quickly in ranking to world No.8 in 2006, however, dropped down later. The Cypriot has won himself two titles in his career using his cool and relaxed playing style. With powerful down-the-line
forehands and cross-court shots, the former world No.8 uses his two handed backhand frequently to advance over his rival.
Playing the 26-year-old for the second time, Darcis once again tried his luck against the Cypriot in the 3rd round match of Winston Open. Kicking off his career in 2003, the Belgian has pocketed two titles in his 8 year
run. Although he hasn’t been anywhere near the top spots, however, he is surely impressive with his one-handed backhands and quick returns.
The two, comparatively, had a tough first set run but Darcis was pulled straight down as he intended to get back up in the second.
Serving first, Darcis took the lead winning the opening game, 1-0. Levelling the scores in the next, Baghdatis stormed in and took away game 2 switching the serve back to the Belgian world No.102. The two levelled out again at
2-2 and then on 3-3 before Baghdatis was broken by the lower ranked Belgian and took the lead 3-5 after winning 2 straight games.
Baghdatis, however, struck back with force as he won game 9 and broke the 27-year-old in the next to level the scores at 5-5. He won his 3rd consecutive game extending his lead to 6-5 before the Cypriot dismantled his
rival breaking him once again and ending the set winning 7-5.
Clearing his way in the first set, Baghdatis went furious in the second. As he started off serving first, the Cypriot played an eye-opener breaking the Belgian 3 times other that winning on his own serve and won the second set
with a bagel in less than 30 minutes.
The 7-6(4), 6-0 win over his 3rd round rival took Baghdatis into the quarterfinal round of Winston-Salem Open 2011 as he goes against the mighty American and fourth seed, John Isner, for a seat in the semis.
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