Photo: Hiromasa Mano
Marcos is through to the quarter-finals of the Medibank International after upsetting sixth seed Vitkor Troicki 7-5, 6-3 Wednesday afternoon in Sydney.
In very blustery and hot conditions on Ken Rosewall Arena, Troicki made the better start to the match, breaking Marcos in the third game before establishing a 3-1 lead. But the Serbian could not keep Marcos down for long. After being denied on two break point chances in the fourth game, Marcos drew level at 3-3 with a rifling backhand down the line to force an error from his sixth-seeded opponent.
From there, the complexion of the first set changed. Strong serving from Marcos, highlighted by a solid first serve percentage of 58% in the first set, ensured he was untroubled on serve and he continually put Troicki under pressure.
The Serbian, who was increasingly frustrated by the affect the wind was having on the rallies, stepped up to the mark to save two set points in the 10th game, but he could not deny Marcos in the 12th game. With Troicki serving to stay in the first set at 5-6, Marcos earned a third set point with a backhand pass down the line and converted immediately as a potent backhand into the corner of the court forced an error from Troicki.
A stroke of luck helped Marcos out at the beginning of the second set as he saved an early break point threat with a net cord. From there, though, Troicki was not to get another chance on Marcos’ serve. Marcos continued to handle the swirling wind better than Troicki and solid tennis gave him a firm foothold in the set at 4-3.
At that point, Troicki’s frustrations got the better of him as two double faults from the Belgrade native handed Marcos a break of serve to lead 5-3 and Marcos comfortably served out victory as Troicki returned serve long after one hour and 35 minutes.
“It was pretty good. I'm pretty happy,” said Marcos. “I served better than last time and was more solid, so it was a great victory today and I'm really happy. With these tough conditions it's not very easy and I felt good. So that's pretty positive.
“[I’m] more focussed on the court, more positive, and starting to the feel a little bit with my tactical game, my game and movement on the court, my routine. It's bit of everything that's getting into place. I'm pretty happy it's coming [together] now. I'm happy that I made mistakes in the first matches in Brisbane, and also here I was not serving very well. So I'm happy [the mistakes] came now and not next week. So I had time to work on them, and I'm feeling pretty positive and happy with how things are going."
For a place in the semi-finals, Marcos will face fourth seed and home favourite Lleyton Hewitt.
All In A Day’s Work
(Photo: Medibank International)
Following his win over Viktor Troicki on Wednesday, Marcos met with Miss Universe Australia, Rachael Finch. Rachael finished third runner-up at the 2009 Miss Universe Pageant.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news from Sydney.
Well done, Marcos!
