Baghdatis dispatches Chela, Federer next.

Although expected, this was the first time Baghdatis beats Chela following two defeats, ages ago. The results for Marcos have been good with Djokivic and Nadal dispatched by others. Good for morale, but we might just be hitting the brick wall called Federer again. To come across him this early could be considered a bit of an unlucky draw, but it just reflects Marcos ATP ranking at the moment. He is not even seeded in Masters Tournaments.

A draw against him tends to be synonymous with ‘the end of the line’ in tennisland. He has beaten Marcos in all 4 encounters to date, last time in the epic Australian Open final in January 2006. Forgive my pessimism, but I do wander by what score we will lose tonight.

Marcos cruises past Murray.

It was too easy. Both on paper and on court. Murray is obviously back from his injuries way too early and Marcos made an easy meal of it in just over three quarters of an hour.

Marcos’ half decent recent results have elevated him in the ATP ranking by a place (to 18^th) and a good crop of points in the next couple of tournaments should see him into the top 15 again.

Next up is Juan Ignacio Chela, the Argentinean who disposed of Tim Henman yesterday. Chela currently ranks 21^st in the world so he is by no means an easy opponent. Plus he has beaten Marcos twice on hard courts already, albeit in 2005.