Marcos Baghdatis stuns Kei Nishikori in the second round – Brisbane International 2012
Unseeded Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, seemed to have found his vintage form, as he plonked the fifth seed Japanese, Kei Nishikori, in the second round contest during the Brisbane International tournament. On Wednesday, both
players went face-to-face with each other for the third time in their career and the Cypriot completed his hat-trick of victories over the Japanese with a straight set win, 6-3, 6-4, in a one-sided show that lasted just over an hour and 18 minutes.
Baghdatis defeated the reigning world number 25, Nishikori, in Regions Morgan Keegan in 2009; then in 2010 they locked horns in the Malaysian Open. It seems like Cypriot loves playing against this youngster, as he has walked
away with a straight set triumph every time he faced the Japanese prodigy.
The Cypriot was on top of his game from the start, held his serve and broke his opponent’s serve to take 2-0 lead. Another commanding serve game gave 3-0 lead to the inferior ranked superstar. Nishikori finally held his serve
but he couldn’t explore that supplementary instinct that would have helped the Japanese to break his rival’s serve. Scores kept on ticking and the fifth seed was running out of games to break. At 5-3, Baghdatis smashed three aces to round off the set in his
favour.
26-years-old, Baghdatis seemed to have found his supreme form once again and everyone witnessed enthusiasm and passion to strive in his eye. He started the third set in dismal manner but soon recovered to gain his lead. Amazing
start to the second set saw Nishikori holding on to his serve and breaking his rival’s to take 2-0.
Cypriot fought back with one break in the third game but Japanese broke back to regain his lead. Another inspiring display of courage witnessed Baghdatis with another successful break in the fifth game that was coupled with
a successful serve game to level the score at 3-3. Spectators cheered the eye-startling neck-to-neck battle, with Baghdatis drew closer to victory.
The Cypriot moved one step ahead with another break in the seventh game. This was the moment that proved to be pivotal in the final score line. Nishikori couldn’t break back to level the score and lost the second set as well.
Baghdatis moves ahead in the quarter-finals with this triumph but he has to overpower the top seed world number four, Andy Murray, to place a berth in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International.
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