Marcos recorded a fine win on Wednesday evening at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors as he upended top seed Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(7) to reach the quarter-finals.
Having been denied a match point at 5-6 on Karlovic’s serve in the third set tie-break, Marcos then saved a match point when serving at 6-7. He eventually clinched victory after one hour and 57 minutes, having withstood 26 aces.
“I was a bit fresher than yesterday but when you play against Ivo there are no rallies so you don’t have time to get tired,” said Marcos. “You just need to be explosive, but it took me a while. It took me a set to get into the game. I was a bit slow at the beginning.
“It is very tough [when Ivo is serving so well]. Even for the best returners in the world it is tough. Ivo beat Djokovic just three weeks ago even though he is one of the best returners in the world.
“I am very, very happy with my mental thinking today. I changed where I stand on the court when returning important points and I think it changed a bit his way of serving. I think that was the key to the match and I am very happy I was smart today.”
Marcos, who won the Zagreb title in 2007, goes on to face sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny on Friday. Marcos will look to overturn a 2-4 record against the Russian, who has ranked as highly as World No. 8.
