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.

Marcos on Fire

David Nalbandian was supposed to be the first real challenge to face Marcos at Wimbledon. However, he made it look like a walk in Wimbledon common. Wrapped the game up in just under 2 hours. Probably Davydenko next. The truth now is that there are no easy players left en-route to the final…

Rain delay

Marcos plays Nalbandian next on court number 11, tomorrow. Should have been yesterday, but canceled due to the heavy rain.

One thing I don't get is why have they transferred a centre court match to court number 11 when both players are seeded. No disrespect but why has Juan Carlos Ferrero vs Janko Tipsarevic been upgraded to court number one instead?

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.