Photo: Ron C. Angle
Marcos set up a mouth-watering fourth round clash with defending champion Novak Djokovic after an assured performance saw American No. 23 seed Mardy Fish fall in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 late on Friday evening at the Australian Open.
The match did not get underway until 11pm in Melbourne but Marcos dealt well with the circumstances and immediately broke the Fish serve in the first game of the match. Fish leveled straightaway, but Marcos was able to re-gain his advantage as he opened up a 4-2 lead. A second break of serve gave him a cushion and he closed out the one-set lead after 47 minutes of play.
Marcos seized on his momentum and broke the Fish serve for a fourth time to lead 1-0 in the second set. A terrific forehand cross-court pass created two more break points with Fish serving at 1-3 and Marcos converted with a passing shot past the net-rushing American.
Still lacking some match-sharpness after his time out, Marcos surrendered serve at his first attempt to earn a two-set lead, but he withstood some ever-threatening play from Fish to get the job done at the second time of asking, winning the set as Fish miscued a forehand down the line.
In a terrific atmosphere on Hisense Arena, Marcos earned a key break through in the seventh game of the third set, good defence forcing an error from Fish to set up the break point and he converted as the Tampa resident netted a backhand. Marcos’ fans endured a tight final service game of the match as he slipped to a 0-30 deficit, but brave play and good serving brought him back the advantage and at 1:15am he clinched victory on his second match point as a big forehand forced the error from Fish.
Marcos will now have a day to recover before he takes on defending champion and World No. 3 Novak Djokovic on Sunday. Stay tuned for more on that encounter, which is sure to be a thriller!
Well done, Marcos!
