The Flashing Meadows, US Open 2007

Only a few days to go for the last grand slam of the year. Baghdatis has never progressed far in this tournament despite this being his favourite surface (judging by past performances). He’s never gone past round 2, however he was younger and he was knocked out by Federer, Tursunov and Agassi in succession.

This year he hasn’t been dealt such a bad draw. He is in the top half along Federer, but wont be meeting him unless he progresses to the semi-finals. His first game is against Grosjean

Baghdatis skips Pilot Pen 2007

Marcos has opted out of the only major tournament held this week, the Pilot Pen open. He had participated there in 2006 where he had reached the last 16 only to lose to Soderling. This tournament looks like the playground of Davydenko, who is the only top 4 player to enter. Plus he won it last year.

Federer beats Baghdatis

In my last post I predicted a Federer win (I know, I’m a rocket scientist). I don’t like being wrong, but I so wanted to be wrong this time. Marcos put up a decent fight despite the countless double faults missed set points etc etc whilst the press has been once again very complimentary. But the reality of what goes down in the history book is Federer’s 5^th victory. No one will look at the score a week from now.

To top it, Roddick has crashed out, so Baghdatis would have had a red carpet laid en route to the final. This was probably the premature final of the Cincy 2007.

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.

Djokivic wins Rogers Masters.

OK, where does this info fit into this particular blog you may ask… This is no general tennis blog, my main concern is Marcos and his antics.

But it is relevant. It was only a few weeks ago that Marcos bowed out of Wimbledon by the thinnest of margins. To Djokovic, who had to run so hard for his money that he in turn walked out of his next match with Nadal. Whereas I (and most of the world) considered Federer virtually unbeatable on hard surface Djokovic has given the rest of the tennis world a glimmer of hope. It means Marcos can compete against the likes of Federer, if only he was in the right frame of mind.

Marcos vs Murray does not feature on today’s order of play in Cincinnati, so by default it must be tomorrow.

Cincinnati 2007

Another master’s tournament starts tomorrow, Cincinnati. Marcos faces Andy Murray first. Despite his current ATP ranking Murray shouldn’t be much of a problem, as he is just back from a long injury absence. The main problem is a couple of rounds later where Federed looms. I just don’t see anyone with a chance of beating him at the moment.

Reflections

For those of you who remember this year's Wimbledon duel with Novak Djokovic, you’ll have to be wandering how Marcos collapsed in front of Andy Roddick two days ago. Djokovic seems to have just walked all over Roddick in Montreal before going on to beat Nadal! Which surely has to mean that Marcos stands a good chance of beating any of the three above.

Oh dear oh dear...

I get the impression that Marcos gets nervous in front of 3-4 top players. Namely Federer, Nadal and Roddick. How else can one explain his appearance yesterday? He collapsed like a house of cards. I just hope he gets his act together before next months’ US Open.

Time to play Andy.

With Haase swept aside, it’s time for a real challenge. It’s 1-1 in encounters with Andy Roddick but Marcos took the only one on a hard court surface (en route to the Australian Open final 2006). Today's match is on quite late and needless to say, Roddick is by far the bookie favourite.

Marcos downs Moya

I did not get to watch the game, but it was a bit of a struggle to wrap up the first set. Down 6-2 in the tie break but Marcos still went on to win it. However hard, the records will read "straight sets"; 7-6, 6-1. That makes it 2-1 for Marcos in encounters with Moya. There can't be that many left, Moya having passed 30.

The next game should be a bit of an easy ride. Marcos plays Robin Haase, the surprise young Dutchman (ranked 103 by ATP) who eliminated Thomas Berdych. Marcos has never come across Haase before.

Marcos vs Moya

Whilst the top 8 seeds in the Rogers Cup get to advance to round 2, without contest, Marcos gets to play an ex world no1 for the privilege. Carlos Moya is never easy. However, the score to date is 1-1, with the last match going to Marcos on clay Carlos Moya's favourite surface.
Moya is currently ranked one place above Marcos at 18th, but I am confident Marcos will overcome him. Oh, and the bookies have Marcos down as favourite.

The Rogers Cup

So, bar a mishap, come next week, Marcos should be competing in the Rogers Cup. This Canadian tournament is in fact quite ancient, having began in 1881. Plus it is part of the Master’s series so there’s a lot of dosh to be won here. $2.45 million according to their website. I wander if that is US or Canadian currency.

And no, it’s not named as such because Roger Federer keeps winning it. It used to be called the Canadian Open, but they too succumbed to the sponsorship carrot.

When will Baghdatis retire?

A few days ago I stumbled across an interesting article in Australian Tennis Magazine. The article has an interview and covers mostly the usual regurgitated info on Marcos. However, what I found most interesting was the brief mention of when Marcos intends to retire (on the last page). There are hints that this may come sooner than people expect even as soon as 2008, after the Beijing Olympics! It’s hard to believe, but could that be true?

Not much to write about.

Marcos seems to be taking a well deserved break. At the moment there is hardly any news on him knocking about. However, he has just appeared on the Rogers Cup entry list and I think this will be his next appearance. It must be a move to North America in preparation for the US Open, which starts end of August.

Cyprus faced relegation

Relegation avoided. The doubles game was won today by 3-0 making the match score 3-0. As it's best of 5, we've won it, and remain in division II of the Europe/Africa group. The coach might give Marcos a break tomorrow now that victory is sealed. Also Photos Kallias is apparently on form too.

Cyprus face relegation

So the fight to remain in division II of the Europe/Africa Davis Cup zone has started. On Friday we saw both Marcos and Photos Kallias score easy 3-0 wins over the Bulgarians. One more win and we stay up. So don't believe the headlines, it looks like we are safe.

Marcos likes grass

No, he doesn't smoke it, he likes playing on it. Well perhaps he does smoke it too but in a recent interview Marcos chose grass as his favourite playing surface. So much so that if he were to build his own private court, it would be a grass one! Will we be seeing the first grass court in Cyprus? Maybe we could move our home Davis Cup games there.

Davis Cup 2007

Let’s face it. Cyprus’ Davis cup performance relies on Marcos. Who favours hard surfaces; his record to date speaks for itself. Why then does Cyprus play its home Davis cup games on clay? Bulgaria are visiting soon and a defeat would have Cyprus demoted to Group III of the Europe/Africa zone.

Latest Ranking

Marcos has dropped 2 places (to 18) in the ATP rankings as of today. I suppose that was expected considering his Wimbledon semifinal points from last year were replaced by quarterfinal points from this year.
He has also pulled out of the Gstaad open, probably due to tiredness.

George Michael etc

George Michael, another Cypriot, was apparently in the crowd watching the ¼ final match with Djokovic. First time I hear he was a tennis fan. And it’s not that the guy advertises his roots. Plus, the TV director did not home in on him. I wander why.

In his post match interview, Marcos came across as very disappointed. He knows he could have won this game and I am sure he feels that he let himself down. Read the transcript of the whole interview here.

Bad luck Marcos, maybe next year.

This post will be a bit longer, just like Marcos’ last match in Wimbledon 2007. Five hours, three tie breaks. Let’s face it, if you were to bow out of Wimbledon you’d want to bow out this way.

Call me biased, but Marcos was unlucky. To start with, Novak hit the net at least 5 times in a row and the ball just trickled onto Marcos’ turf. So much so that it became a joke, Novak kept apologising! Then, how did Marcos waste 6 (yes, SIX) set points in the second tie break, whilst Novak went on to win his first set point? Damn it, it hurts. And Marcos seemed a bit emotional whilst walking off the court.

Never mind, there’s always next year. The bookies were right after all. Their favourite won. Well done Novak, in fact I hope you go on and beat Nadal.

Strawberries and Cream

The bookies got it right. Marcos squashed Nikolay Davydenko like a strawberry. Straight sets in 2h10m. Novak Djokovic next, tomorrow hopefully. This will be Marcos’ first match where the bookies have him as the underdog. Let’s hope they’ve got it wrong.

Wimbledon seeding vs the bookies

Marcos plays on court 13 tomorrow, starts noon GMT. If the BBC weather girls have it right, the game might even start AND finish tomorrow.

One thing I can’t get my head round however is the odds the bookies are offering for this game. Davydenko is seeded 6^th, so in theory he is the favourite as Marcos is seeded 10^th. However if you take a look at any bookie website, you stand to earn twice as much if you back Davydenko. Don’t get me wrong, it makes me happy as the bookies do tend to get these right, but why is Marcos the bookies’ favourite?

Oh, and Nadal is through, by the skin of his teeth...

Yes, Davydenko next

Nikolay Davydenko is through and Marcos will face him next. Heaven knows when, with the weather forecast as is, Wimbledon might be heading into a 3rd week. On another note, Rafael Nadal might well be running into a brick wall. He is struggling against Robin Söderling (remember him from two weeks ago in Halle?... if not read blog archive!). Which is positive news for Marcos as Nadal is in the same half of the draw.