Photo: Ron C. Angle
Marcos lost a close match to Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 7-6(3) in the second round of the AEGON Championships at the Queen's Club on Wednesday.
In overcast and cool conditions after a rain-delayed start on Court 1, Marcos was made to work hard right from the off, being forced to save break points in his first three service games before levelling at 3-3 in the first set.
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Marcos’ perseverance was nearly rewarded as he had two break point chances at 15/40 on Youzhny’s serve in the seventh and ninth games, but he was unable to convert on any of the opportunities and was made to rue his missed chances as the Russian finally broke Marcos’ serve in the 10th game as Marcos hit a backhand long to surrender the first set.
Youzhny capitalised on his momentum to create a 2-0 lead in the second set, breaking Marcos’ serve in the second game courtesy of a double fault and a backhand into the net. An annoyed Marcos vented his frustration on his racquet, but the outburst helped him to regroup and he immediately recouped the break of serve by taking advantage of a poor service game from Youzhny.
A newly fired up Marcos then held serve to love before breaking Youzhny’s serve again with a clever backhand slice down the line past the net-approaching Russian.
However, after Marcos had held serve to win a fourth straight game, Youzhny reined in his errors and rediscovered his potent first serve to save two break points in the seventh game before making Marcos pay for his missed chance by breaking back in the eighth game to level at 4-4. The No. 14 seed then went on to close out victory in the tie-break by seven points to three.
It was a great effort by Marcos in difficult conditions and he will next play in ‘s-Hertogenbosch next week in his final preparation for Wimbledon.
