Radek Stepanek ends Marcos Baghdatis’s run in the first round at the Monte Carlo Masters
Czech’s Radek Stepanek had a back breaking victory over world number 26 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the first round of the 2011 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters at Monte Carlo Country club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France on Monday. Ranked 70th in the world, Stepanek took down his opponent in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(7), taking two hours and thirty three minutes of play to ensure his spot in the next round of the Monte Carlo tournament.
The 32-year-old Stepanek put his tennis skills to good use and ousted his higher ranked opponent bouncing back from being one set down. Stepanek has played fifteen matches in the season so far and has won eight of them. He has seventeen career titles to his name, thirteen of which he earned in Doubles.
Baghdatis on the other hand has four career titles to his name and is noticeably best known for his performance at the 2006 Australia open and 2006 Wimbledon Championships. However, on a surprising downward spiral this year, he had to face early exits from most of the tournaments he played. This was the pair’s fourth meeting on courts, having already met at various occasions. With this win, players stand at a balanced head-to-head record by 2-2.
The first set saw, as expected, Baghdatis’ dominion across the score board. He played an awe-inspiring first set. He completely destroyed Stepanek in all areas of the game. He scored a whopping 75 percent on his 44 percent first serves and recorded a perfect breakpoint saving percentage to clinch the set.
Whether it was over-confidence after winning the opening set or the effects of fatigue, Baghdatis was totally hampered in the next two sets. This time it was Stepanek’s turn to put display his tennis skills in the contest. He scored 73 percent on first serves and 71 percent on second serves to ensure his opponent’s defeat in a breadstick. The final set was pushed into a tie-break game where Baghdatis again couldn’t make it past the Czech and lost 7-9.
Stepanek will meet Andy Murray of Great Britain in the second round of the Monte Carlo tournament. The pair has already met each other four times with Murray leading their head-to-head record by 3-1. In their last match at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris, Stepanek defeated Murray in a three setter in the round of 16.
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