Three grueling sets saw Radek Stepanek overcome Marcos in Monte-Carlo on Monday to end the Cypriot’s tournament at the first hurdle. In a tense and exciting match, Stepanek’s vast experience helped him to win 3-6, 6-1, 7-6. Marcos fashioned many good opportunities for himself, particularly in the third set, where he led 4-1 in the tie-break and had two match points, but failed to convert and will rue missed chances.
Marcos managed to claim control of the match in the first set, breaking in the eighth game to lead 5-3 despite having break points against him earlier in the set. Momentum shifted frequently between the two players throughout the match, but Marcos appeared to be in a strong position against the wild card Stepanek. However, the second set saw Stepanek recover himself and romp to a 6-1 scoreline.
With the match appearing to be heading in Stepanek’s favour, Marcos rallied bravely and broke to lead 3-1 before forfeiting the break in the very next game. Both players continued to give it everything, and Marcos missed a number of break point opportunities, before Stepanek finally came back in the tie-break to clinch the game.
This is a bitterly disappointing defeat for Marcos; his level of play was good enough to win but a number of missed opportunities meant that Stepanek progressed to face Andy Murray in the next round.
