Photo: Arne Forsell/rca productions
Marcos won his third ATP World Tour title Sunday as he defeated Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 7-5 in the final of the If Stockholm Open, an ATP World Tour 250 tournament.
Victory gifts Marcos 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points, which will further improve his position following a leap of 21 places last week after his title at the Tashkent Challenger.
"It's been a long time since I won an ATP World Tour tournament," said Marcos. "The last one was in February 2007. I'm so happy right now. It's been a tough two years and this title came when I least expected it, so it's even better."
Playing against his good friend Rochus, Marcos broke to lead 3-1 in the first set, before earning a second break of serve in the sixth game as Rochus placed a backhand wide. As Marcos served for the set, an off-target lob from Rochus brought up set point and Marcos was able to convert immediately.
If Stockholm Open Photo Gallery
Breaks were exchanged twice in the second set, once at the start and again in the sixth and seventh games, before Marcos broke serve for the fifth time to lead 6-5. He then confidently served out victory after one hour and 38 minutes, having fired 15 aces and won 81 per cent of points on his serve.
"I played really well in the first set," said Marcos. "It was important to get a good start, but then in the second set Olivier stepped it up. I was a bit lucky to win in two sets in the end. I wanted to win this so badly. It was my chance to win another title and I managed to find the solution to win."
It was a thoroughly successful debut for Marcos in Stockholm, defeating third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in the first round en route to capturing the title without the loss of a set, extending his current winning streak to nine matches.
The title is Marcos’ third at ATP World Tour level, and his first since triumphing at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors in February 2007 when he defeated Ivan Ljubicic. He won his maiden title at the China Open with victory over Mario Ancic in Beijing in October 2006, the same year he reached the Australian Open final (l. to Federer).
Marcos has seen a huge turnaround in his fortunes in the past three months, beginning with an ATP Challenger Tour title in Vancouver in August. He has gone on to win two further ATP Challenger Tour titles in St. Remy and Tashkent and push World No. 2 Rafael Nadal to three sets at the China Open, improving his South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking by 85 places since a low of No. 151 on 6th July.
Marcos will spend the next week at home to recover, before travelling to South Korea to play another ATP Challenger Tour event.
"I'll work hard in the off-season so I can start the year strong next year and try and be more consistant and play a full year. It's been a tough last two weeks for me - I've played 10 matches (including Soderling walkover) and won all of them, so of course I am a bit tired now. I'm going to rest for a few days before playing my last tournament, a Challenger in South Korea."
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for match reaction and photos from the Swedish capital.
Well done, Marcos!
