Marcos Baghdatis stuns Viktor Troicki in the first round – Swiss Indoors Basel 2011
Rated at number 59 in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus stunned the eighth seed Serbian, Viktor Troicki, in the very first round of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel on Monday
afternoon.
The world number 17 hung in the contest for two hours and forty three minutes of play before submitting the matchup in the third set, 6-4, 6-7(8), 2-6. Baghdatis recovered from being one set down in the contest and reeled off the
last two sets of the match to make it through to the round of 16 of the ATP World Tour 500 event.
The crowd at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, was surprised by the magnificent display of quality tennis from the Cypriot competitor. Baghdatis was off to a sloppy start in the opener but bagged the second set tie breaker
after a stiff competition with the eighth seed. Once getting his momentum, the unseeded Cypriot outclassed Troicki in the final set to race away to victory in style.
Baghdatis continued his winning form against the Serbian, who suffered a crushing straight sets defeat at the hands of the Cypriot in the semi-final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier this year. Baghdatis extended his head-to-head
lead over Troicki by 3-1 after his Monday’s encounter and booked a place in the second round of the tournament in an assertive manner.
The unseeded Cypriot took the better of his opponent in most segments of the game and cashed his opportunities in time to turn the tables on Troicki. He converted five of his seven break chances and secured 43 out of 60 first serve
points en route to victory.
The opening set took off with an exchange of serve breaks but a vital break point conversion in the ninth game closed out the first set in Troicki’s favour at 6-4. After taking the second set in a hard-fought tie breaker, Baghdatis
launched an onslaught upon his competitor in the final set, breaking his serve three times to drive him out of the competition. The Cypriot cruised through the third set to conclude his victory at 6-2, moving one step further in the tournament.
Baghdatis will either take on Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny or the local qualifier, Michael Lammer, in the second round of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel. Youzhny and Lammer will compete against each other on Tuesday afternoon and
the winner will take on the Cypriot for a place in the quarter-finals.
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