Through to round 3

Frankly Marcos was a class above. Nicolas Devilder's Wimbledon trip cut short.

Court Number 3

Second match on court number 3. Should be around 2pm GMT. Weather forecast good enough to see the game through. Come on Marcos, Nalbandian's up next.

Good Start

It took a bit of a shaking to wake up (lost the first set), but the rest of the match was a walkover. Next up is Nicolas Devilder, probably on Thursday. He's beaten Marcos once in the past, in 2005 in India. This was their only encounter to date. I wander where this game will be staged? His opponent ranks 102^nd, which is paradoxically, lower than Marcos’ opponent in the first round. Court number 2 again? I think Marcos deserves court number 1 at least…

Graveyard of Champions

Marcos plays last on court number 2 today. The weather outlook is good with only a low chance of rain. What concerns me though is that court number 2 is nicknamed the “graveyard of champions” and Marcos is by far the favourite in this encounter…

Bad weather

Tomorrow’s order of play is out, and Marcos is not playing just yet. As always for Wimbledon, the weather forecast is terrible, so first round matches might well drag on for a few days.

On the odds front the bookies rank Marcos 9^th favourite outright winner with odds of 41 to 1.

Wimbledon 2007

The qualifiers are still going on but today the main draw was held. Marcos starts off against Ernests Gulbis a guy from Latvia. He is ranked 84^th in the world and Marcos already beat him once, earlier this year at the Australian Open.

Marcos pulls out

Along with a few other higher ranking players (eg Novak Djokovic, Mario Ancic) Marcos has pulled out of the Ordina open. Must be tired after doing so well in Halle, plus Wimbledon starts next week.

Ordina Open

The Ordina Open starts today, a Dutch grass court tournament held in Hertogenbosch. Marcos plays the Dane, Kristian Pless, whom he beat in straight sets at the French Open a few weeks ago. Game probably tomorrow, Tuesday.

Up 2 places.

Those Halle ATP points helped Marcos rise to 16^th in the ATP rankings. There is a potential drop in the horizon though at Wimbledon. Anything but a semis (or better) appearance would result in a large net loss of points.

Never mind.

Lost by 2 sets to 0. On Marcos’ birthday. Nice of the Germans to organise a birthday cake though. And to sing the "happy bday to you!" Th €55,000 cheque is also a nice little bday present, so are the 155 ATP points. Would have been a bit nicer to walk away with the trophy.

Well, next year maybe… Or perhaps Wimbledon? Can't wait.

Sweet revenge

I was wrong earlier on. My comment went along the lines of “…not an emphatic start to the grass court season…” Apologies, as it has evolved, Marcos could not have expected to start off any better. Sweet revenge on Kohlschreiber takes him to the 6^th final of his career; first final on grass. To face Berdych, who remains favourite I think, but we’ll check the bookies later.

2 matches to go

Straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Poor Florian. It looked like he did not know what hit him. To top it, Marcos finished with an ace. What's even better for Marcos is that Blake is out. Up next is another German, Philipp Kohlschreiber ranked 34^th in the world. Marcos has come across this guy 4 times, 2-2 outcomes to date. The last 2 though (both in ’07) were won by Kohlschreiber. Still Marcos must be the favourite.

€33,000 and 100 ATP points already.

Quarterfinals!

Nikolay Davydenko, seeded 2^nd, ranked 3^rd by ATP got spanked by the German Florian Mayer (unseeded, ranked 37th). Grass is not Nikolay’s favourite surface; he has a dismal record with 2 wins and 12 defeats on this surface to date. Technically this game should prove easy for Marcos. Even the bookies have him down as hot favourite with match odds to win at 1.44.

This will be the first time Marcos plays Mayer. Match starts on centre court at around 17:30 CET.

Comeback

Another comeback. First set down to Söderling, but got there with a 2-1 result. Not really an emphatic start to the grass season. Davydenko is next, that is if he gets through his game today.

Robin Söderling

Today we play the Swede Robin Söderling, currently ranked 28th by ATP. He has beaten Marcos twice already, once in straight sets in Doha earlier on this year, and last year by 2 sets to 1 at New Haven. So never on grass. Time to improve on this record. Centre court 12pm CET. It can be watched live online through bet365 or unencripted on DSF (Astra Sat). Bookies have Marcos down as favourite!

Marcos singing

Good thing you chose tennis Marcos. I hope this performance is your last on the music stage.

Gerry Weber

I thought Halle, or the 'Gerry Weber' Tournament in the 'Gerry Weber Arena' was named after some local hero or famous tennis player. Like say, Roland Garros or Rod Laver. Nope, it is a (rich) company that makes frocks. No different from the Stella Artois Championship I guess...

Halle vs Queen's

I was wrong. Blake ain't the biggest hurdle. It's Davydenko. With the withdrawal of Federer, Marcos is left in the difficult side of the draw. He will have to beat both Blake and Davydenko to progress to the final. However, the only other option this week, Queen's in London, is certainly more challenging with Nadal and Roddick both present. Both tournaments are worth the same points but there is marginally more prize money in Germany.

Halle begins

And Marcos has already won his first game. 1-1 in encounters with Gilles Simon who beat us in Marseilles earlier on this year. FedEx has withrawn (apparently due to fatigue) so the biggest obstacle to winning this one will be Blake.

Up one place

As of today, up one place (to 18) in the ATP rankings. Problem is, if 2007 Wimbledon turns out sour, then there will be a big fall, as last year's semi final appearance points get deleted. Nadal does it again at Roland Garros, but continues to live in Federer's rankings dust.

Monaco

Rumours have it Marcos is spending some time in Monaco, where the 2007 Games of the Small States of Europe are being held. Although Cyprus has entered a tennis team, Marcos does not feature in the schedule of play. I guess he’s there for moral support; his bro Petros, is playing for Cyprus.

Au revoir Paris

Well, out in the 4^th round. Best performance at Roland Garros to date. Can’t complain really, not our favourite surface. But on paper should have at least made it to the next round. I make it another 125 ATP points gained here.

One thing’s for sure, I will remember Andreev from now on.

Bring on the grass courts.

Who is Igor Andreev?

Ranked 125^th by ATP, and to be honest I have hardly heard of him. By no means a player to be underestimated though, he featured in the world’s top 25 in 2006. His best grand slam run to date was 4^th in the French Open in 2004. Does that make clay his favourite surface?

Although this will be their first encounter, Marcos will have to be wide awake if he is going to get to play Djokovic.