Marcos has become the magician of Chengdu, rallying from a set down in his first two matches at the ATP World Tour 250 event.
Marcos overcame Peter Gojowczyk 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in Thursday's second round, moving into the quarter-finals after one hour and 47 minutes. Gojowczyk was in fine form entering the week, having claimed his first ATP title in Metz on Sunday, but Marcos would turn the tables on the German.
Looking to blast back into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, Marcos is into the Chengdu Open quarter-finals for the first time in two appearances. He fired eight aces and converted four of eight break points.
“The first set it was a bit tough for me," said Marcos. "He won the tournament last week in Metz and he was playing with lots of confidence. I didn’t know what to expect at first but then I found my rhythm and found some ways to break his serve. I started serving a little better myself as well because I figured out where he returns better and where he doesn’t. I can’t say it was easy but I found a way to win today and I’m happy with it."
On Friday, Marcos will next face Yen-Hsun Lu for the third time. They split both previous encounters, with Marcos prevailing in Kuala Lumpur in 2009 and Lu answering with a win in Los Angeles in 2011.
“It’s going to be a tough one," Marcos added. "He beat Rublev in two sets and that is pretty impressive. I’m sure he is playing very well. I need to focus on the way I played today in the second and third sets and bring that to the match tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes."
