Baghdatis beats Robredo to reach Master's semi

By beating Robredo, Marcos has made it to his first Master’s semi-final. To make it to Shanghai though (I’ve worked it out now) not only does he need to beat the winner of Nadal vs Youzhny, but neither Murray nor Gasquet should make it to the final. Pretty slim, but not impossible.

Paris Masters 2007

Yes, last week Marcos lost to Nieminen. But he has more than made up for it this week. Dispatching Ferrero, Ljubicic and Davydenko without dropping a set. I wander what the press will be saying tomorrow in view of Davydenko’s match fixing allegations.

I haven’t done my maths, but a quick glance at the ATP race rankings means that only if he wins this tournament does he stand a chance of reaching Shanghai. Too little too late perhaps?

Next up is Tommy Robredo, who is also fighting to make it to Shanghai. Marcos has won their only encounter to date in 2005.

Baghdatis into quarterfinals

Calleri and Paul-Henri Mathieu beaten to set up a quarterfinal against Nieminen. Nieminen has not beaten Marcos since 2006 in Auckland.

Baghdatis beats Albert Montanes

At last. Marcos wins a game. Albert Montanes swept aside, 6-2, 6-2. Next up is Agustin Calleri, ranked fifty something in the world, 31 years old and from Argentina. Hopefully he should not be much of a problem despite having overcome David Ferrer in round 1 in straight sets.

Basel 2007

This is considered Roger Federer’s home tournament so despite it not being a Master’s event, Fed graces the courts with his appearance. This leaves little chance of any one else winning much. Marcos first meets a 26 year old Spaniard, Albert Montanes, no 48 in the world for the first time ever. They play tomorrow.

Baghdatis slips down the rankings.

24^th and sliding. Will Marcos manage to stay in the top 30 before 2008 comes?

Where is Baghdatis?

I do wander what Marcos is up to these days. Following his withdrawal from the Mumbai Open (due to injury), he has somehow vanished, both from the public eye and the tennis circuit. Meanwhile he has dropped to 21^st in the ATP rankings so I think it is safe to say he won’t be booking accommodation for the Shanghai Tennis Masters Cup.

Baghdatis enjoying himself.

Whilst at the Rogers Cup, some players were apparently invited to join the Montreal Fashion Show. The players paraded down a runway accompanied by female models. From the pics, Marcos seems pretty much in his element. I wander if he will be back for next year’s Montreal Open?

Ljubicic sends Baghdatis packing

The defending champion is out. Two sets to 1, this was the first time after 3 attempts that Ivan Ljubicic beats Marcos. Could this season get any worse?
Marcos should be off to nearby India for the Kingfisher Airlines Open in Mumbai which starts the following Monday.

Baghdatis plays Ljubicic next

So Marcos just beat no 92 in the world, Boris Pashanski, a 24 year old from Serbia. Struggled a bit, 6-4, 6-4 but straight sets nonetheless. Ljubicic on the other hand blew away his opponent (another Serb) 6-1, 6-1.
What chance do we stand beating the Croat? OK, we are 3-0 in encounters with him so far, but on current form I would wager my money on Ljubicic. I hope I am wrong, we shall see tomorrow.

Great performance

Not! Marcos made hard work of beating number seven hundred and something in the world rankings. Great stuff, I cannot see us going much further here. Ljubicic lurks around the corner, with appearances like today, I fear that will be the end of the road. First though we have to beat another unseeded player.
Good thing everyone else is watching the women's football World Cup.

China Open 2007

Right, back from my post US Open depression. Baghdatis holds the 18^th position in world rankings and is off to good old China, to defend the title he won there last year. The competition looks weak, but following Marcos’ form at the US Open, seeded 5^th might even be a compliment.

First up is a 24 year old qualifier from China, Shao Xuan Zang. Hopefully he won't be that much of a challenge.

Max Mirnyi beats Marcos at US Open

I am so annoyed about this I will not comment any further. To top it, this is not the first time.

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.