Photo: Ron C. Angle
Marcos showed great mental resilience and skill to defeat former World No. 4 James Blake in a thrilling five-set tussle in his opening match at Wimbledon on Tuesday. After two sets, Marcos appeared to be in control of the match but an inspirational comeback from the American took the match to the very brink with Marcos ultimately triumphing 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 4-6 6-4. Marcos will now face Andreas Seppi in the second round on Thursday.
Marcos won the first set in a routine manner that was not symptomatic of the rest of the bout, breaking in the very first game and holding serve for the rest of the set. With Blake playing high-risk tennis, Marcos clinically dismantled the American’s serve, breaking twice and cruising into a two-set lead.
However, with Marcos a break up in the third set and the writing seemingly on the wall for Blake, the American rallied, winning a tight set in the tie-break before going on to clinch the fourth set to set up a deciding set. The momentum was truly with the American, forcing Marcos to dig deep and show the sort of mental toughness that took him to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2006. Despite being a break down, Marcos levelled midway through the fifth set before crucially breaking again in the final game of the match.
For all the updates on Marcos’ progress at Wimbledon, check in on www.baghdatis.com.
