Photo: Hiromasa Mano
Marcos is through to the final at the Medibank International Sydney after a battling display saw him edge American Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-6(5) on Friday at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.
In his eighth tour-level final, Marcos will take on fellow former Top 10 member, Richard Gasquet, who defeated Julien Benneteau in straight sets earlier in the day in an all-French semi-final.
“[We played each other] two times in juniors, I think,” said Marcos. “[I’ve] never played him in the seniors for sure. But I know him. We used to play juniors together. He's a great player and he has a lot of talent. He looks like he worked hard this winter, and he's playing great tennis. I guess I'll enjoy my victory for today, and start thinking about the match for tomorrow.”
Marcos vs. Gasquet: Head-to-Head
Stepping out once again to raucous support from his many fans in Sydney, Marcos played to a very high level in the first set and broke serve to lead 4-3 as Fish over hit a forehand under pressure.
Marcos later served out the first set to love and carried his fine form into the second set, setting up an immediate break point chance with a rifling cross-court forehand passing shot before converting the opportunity as Fish netted a forehand.
After the match, Marcos lamented a few periods of lost concentration and one such moment occurred in the following game as Fish drew level courtesy of mishit forehand from Marcos. It was a highly competitive second set and both players had chances for further service breaks, with Marcos saving two set points in the 10th game, but neither was able to capitalise on their opportunities and the set went to a decisive tie-break.
As the tie-break proceeded on serve, Marcos was presented with a match point at 6-5 on Fish’s serve, however he could not convert due to a wayward forehand and his American opponent hit back to level the match with an ace to clinch the tie-break 9-7.
In the let down from the disappointment of losing the second set, Marcos struggled to regain his composure early in the third set and two double faults put him under immediate pressure. Facing three break points at 0-40 he rallied to save the first two but could not deny Fish on the third as the Tampa resident secured the early lead. Marcos upped his game to break back straight away, but more disappointment swiftly followed as he surrendered his serve once more to trail 1-2.
As he had done against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarter-finals, though, Marcos demonstrated his battling qualities and better concentration and consistency helped him to draw level in the sixth game as Fish scooped a forehand volley wide. Marcos came close to breaking serve again in Fish’s following service game, but brave, aggressive play from the right-hander kept Marcos at bay and the set proceeded to another tie-break.
Mini-breaks were exchanged early in the tie-break before Marcos stretched out to a 6-3 lead courtesy of an error of judgement from Fish and then a forehand error from the American. On his own serve, Fish saved the first two match points, but sent a forehand long on the third to grant Marcos victory after two hours and 57 minutes.
“It was a tough one, and a bit of pressure today with the draw of the [Australian] Open and everything,” said Marcos. “So [there was] a bit of pressure. I had to stay concentrated, and I tried. I had some moments of the match that I lost my concentration, but the most important thing is that I won the match and I'm playing a final tomorrow, so that's pretty positive.”
An appearance in his eighth tour-level final is just reward for Marcos after the trials and tribulations of the past two years, which have seen his progress severely hampered by injury. He mounted a strong comeback at the close of 2009 with victory at the If Stockholm Open and has the chance now to win his fourth ATP World Tour title.
“It's a pleasure,” said Marcos. “It's been a hard two years; 2008, 2009 was tough. It's nice coming back. I won Stockholm. That was the last tournament of last year that I played. So it's nice coming back, playing finals and having a chance to win another title.”
The final against Gasquet will take place on Saturday evening on Ken Rosewall Arena, beginning not before 7:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. GMT; 10:30 a.m. Cyprus).
Check out the full order of play here.
There will be live radio commentary of the match on AO Series Radio and you can follow point-by-point live scores here.
If you live in Australia, there is live television coverage available on Seven Network. Check out the full TV schedule here.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news from Sydney and an update on the Australian Open draw.
Go, Marcos!
