Photo: Mike Baz
Marcos is through to the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic after toughing out a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win over Argentine Horacio Zeballos on Wednesday at the ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tournament in Washington D.C.
In a strong serving performance, Marcos fired 17 aces and saved four of the five break points he faced. Breaks were exchanged in the first set before Marcos prevailed in the deciding tie-break. He then got the better of Zeballos again in a second-set tie-break after one hour and 58 minutes.
"He was playing really aggressive and I had to fight," said Marcos. "I didn't have my best form on the court, but I'm really happy I won. I found the solution."
For a place in the quarter-finals on his debut appearance in Washington D.C., Marcos will face Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, who advanced when ninth seed Ernests Gulbis retired due to the heat when trailing 6-1, 1-0 in their second-round match.
World No. 73 Marchenko has won back-to-back ATP World Tour matches for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals in Eastbourne in June. The 22 year old was also a quarter-finalist in Marseille and Zagreb earlier in the year. He and Marcos have never played each other before.
The match is scheduled for first on Grandstand, beginning at 4pm local time (9pm UK, 11pm Cyprus).
Marcos is also in doubles action on Thursday as he and Stanislas Wawrinka face fourth seeds Julian Knowle and Andy Ram in the quarter-finals. That match is third on Court 1 after a 4pm start.
Check out the full order of play here.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news and photos from Washington D.C.
Go, Marcos!
