Marcos is through to both the singles and doubles quarter-finals at the If Stockholm Open after a very successful day’s play on Thursday in the Swedish capital.
Up first in singles action, Marcos was leading his opponent, Alejandro Falla, 6-0, 3-0, when the Colombian was forced to retire with a left foot injury. In a dominant display, Marcos had won 73 per cent of his return points and dropped just 11 points on his own delivery.
He then stepped back onto court alongside Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, to record a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Germans Tobias Kamke and Philipp Marx. Marcos and Nieminen are teaming up for the second time, with their debut effort producing a quarter-final effort in Munich five years ago.
It means another busy day for Marcos on Friday in Stockholm. Starting not before 1pm local time (2pm Cyprus), Marcos will face Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis in the singles quarter-finals. It will be a first-time meeting for Marcos against the No. 95-ranked Berankis. Marcos is bidding to reach his second ATP World Tour semi-final in three weeks, having also reached the last four two weeks ago in Tokyo (l. to Nishikori).
Marcos and Nieminen are due on Court 2 not before 4pm local time against second seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer. Check out the full schedule here.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for updates.
Go, Marcos!
