Photo: Ron C. Angle
One week on from his quarter-final victory over Lleyton Hewitt at the Medibank International Sydney, Marcos will face the Australian No. 1 in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday at Melbourne Park.
Cast your minds back two years when Marcos also came up against Hewitt in the third round at the Australian Open. The epic encounter did not get on court until nearly midnight and lasted four hours and 45 minutes before becoming the latest-known finish in tennis history after culminating in a Hewitt victory at 4:34 a.m. It’s fair to say, fans and media alike are expecting another marathon effort from both players.
Check out the latest video on the homepage to watch Marcos reflect on that historic match.
Marcos avenged that defeat to Hewitt with victory in Sydney last week; when he went on to capture his fourth ATP World Tour title. He also defeated the gritty Australian in the 2006 Wimbledon quarter-finals and takes a 2-1 career lead into their fourth meeting.
Marcos vs. Hewitt: Head-to-Head
The 28-year-old Hewitt will be another step up for Marcos this week, with the Adelaide native yearning to win a Grand Slam title on home soil to add to his trophies from the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon. Like Marcos, Hewitt has reached the final at the Australian Open, finishing runner-up to Marat Safin in 2005.
Marcos goes into the match full of confidence, having won 17 of his past 18 matches, including recovering from two sets and a break down against No. 17 seed David Ferrer in the second round on Thursday. Despite the volume of matches he has played in recent months, and the length of his victory over Ferrer, Marcos is confident he is in the best shape of his life and ready to face Hewitt:
“[I] trust my physio (Diego Martos). I think he'll work on my body and I will be 100% ready for Lleyton's match,” said Marcos.
Giving his opinion ahead of the match, Hewitt had nothing but respect for Marcos and his efforts to climb back up to No. 31 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings:
“He's always played well in Australia. You look back to the year he made a good run and made the final here and surprised everyone. This year in Sydney he played well, as well. Obviously last year was tough for him in patches. He definitely had a couple of injuries and that set him back quite a bit. He went back to the challengers, and you gotta take your hat off to that. He's a class player, and he's a lot better than a challenger player. For him to be able to do that is a great effort.”
The eagerly anticipated match has been scheduled for first in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena, beginning at 7 p.m. in Melbourne (8 a.m. GMT; 10 a.m. Cyprus). Check out the full order of play here.
There are many ways you can follow the match live on the television and via internet and radio:
Australian Open TV (be sure to check streaming in your country)
TV Schedule
Photo: Australian Open 2010
There will be live coverage of the match in Cyprus, available from 10 a.m. on CYBC2 (PIK2- for Greek speakers).
While waiting for the match to get underway, make sure you check out the great photos in the Australian Open photo gallery of Marcos relaxing on Brighton Beach today, when he went for a dip in the sea and played beach cricket with some local children.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news and photos from Melbourne.
Go, Marcos!
