Marcos Baghdatis ousted from Pilot Pen by Sergiy Stakhovsky
Top seeded Macros Baghdatis looked a bit tired during the quarter-finals of the Pilot Tennis tournament on Thursday night, where he lost 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) to Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky. This was because ninth-seeded Stakhovsky played two matches on the day.
Stakhovsky kept changing his speed throughout the match and his power, slices and drop shots kept Baghdatis running on the Stadium Court. Stakhovsky won two points on Baghdatis first three serves advancing to Friday’s semi-finals.
"I use (the drop shot) quite often. Unfortunately, not often is it working as a weapon," Stakhovsky said with a smile on his face. "It didn't work that well. Marcos is quite quick on his legs.”
But the technique used by Stakhovsky really worked and Baghdatis was a bit tired and felt fatigued.
The player further commented, "I had to make a lot of sprints, you know," Baghdatis said. "I felt my legs a bit tired after. I couldn't be 100 percent." He said that Stakhovsky was playing slices and drop shots which killed his legs a bit.” He further added that if he was fresh and a bit quick, he would have made it to the net and finished them in a moment.
"It's big," said Stakhovsky, who has already won a tournament earlier this year in the Netherlands and he has never lost a semi-final. "Marcos is playing really good right now. Maybe (Thursday) wasn't his day."
Stakhovsky was tired after the match. He played his first match on Tuesday with Peter Luczak and finished it on Wednesday. Stakhovsky won the match by 6-3, 7-6 (4). He started his third-round match on Wednesday night, which was suspended by rain. When the match resumed on Thursday morning, he finished off the sixth seed in the second set. After a few hours, he was back on the court facing Macro Baghdatis.
“I would say I have a nice long streak here in tennis.” Stakhovsky said. “I don’t need a hotel, I could sleep in the lounge,” he added.
Stakhovsky will face Dutch tennis star Thiemo de Bakker on Friday in the semi-final. Thiemo de Bakker is a strong contestant whose ranking just moved to No. 52 from No. 96 this year.
But experts believe that Friday’s match will not be tough for Stakhovsky because if we peep into history, his career high ranking stands at No. 46. He has won a lucky loser defeating No.1 seed Ivan Ljubicic in the final. Sergiy Stakhovsky gave stiff competition to Macro Baghdatis.
Stakhovsky’s playing style is relaxed and smooth. His strength is his backhand shots along with a natural talent for placement. He can make powerful and immediate down-the-line forehands and cross-court backhands on the run and often patiently constructs points to get in position from where he can make outright winners with those shots. Baghdatis has one of the best forehands in the game, especially his two-handed forehand down the line. Stakhovsky is noted for often playing high-risk tournaments, attempting difficult and tough shots which, depending on their execution, can pay off big or backfire. Unfortunately these hard shots have sometimes resulted in difficulties for Stakhovsky.
Stakhovsky has a really exuberant presence and performance on court which results in rubbing off on to the spectators. Many Ukrainians come to watch his matches, boosting their national hero’s confidence to win the match. Stakhovsky is built around taking immediate control of rallies with consistent serves and forceful ground strokes from both his forehand and backhand swings. His serve is technically very sound and fast. He can hit a winning backhand shot from any position on the court.
Stakhovsky’s upcoming match with Thiemo de Bakker is going to be really interesting. Fans, supporters and all who follow and love tennis are looking forward for this match.
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