In a late-finishing match on Monday night at the Foro Italico, Marcos bowed out in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to big-hitting Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Long matches throughout the day held up the schedule and it was 10:30pm local time in Rome before the two former Australian Open runners-up took to the court. It was Tsonga who settled the better of the two players, capitalising on a spate of forehand unforced errors from Marcos to break serve and lead 2-1.
An impressive display from Tsonga denied Marcos the chance to infiltrate his serve as he surrendered just one point in his first four games. Under the cosh, Marcos faced relentless pressure on his own serve from the powerful Tsonga and the World No. 18 broke through for a second time in the ninth game to seal the first set.
The start of the second set did not yield any better fortune for Marcos, as he was broken in his opening service game to trail 0-2. He worked hard to survive on serve in the fourth game and end the run of games against him, but despite flashes of good play, Marcos could not find a way to penetrate Tsonga’s serve and the Frenchman broke serve for the fourth time in the match as he went on to seal victory in 75 minutes.
Marcos still has the chance for more match practice in Rome this week as he teams up with Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic for the first time in the doubles. In the first round he will have the chance for some revenge against Tsonga as he and Ljubicic face the Frenchman and his countryman Richard Gasquet in the fifth match on Court 10 on Tuesday.
