Article: Andri Christou / Photo: Savvides Photos
Marcos had a good practice before his return to the ATP World Tour, winning his second singles match against the 19-year-old Mohamed Safwat, Egypt’s No. 4 and No. 1203 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings. Marcos, who will depart for the United States on Monday at dawn, secured the third victory for Cyprus and therefore won the tie against Egypt. The match does not deserve a special review because of the huge difference in level between the two athletes.
In the first set Marcos broke his opponent’s serve twice in the fourth and sixth games, winning the set 6-1 in 30 minutes. The same happened in the second set, with Marcos breaking serve in the first and third games to secure the set 6-2 in just 2 minutes. Due to a few errors from Marcos and Safwat’s resistance, the third set was more competitive. The two players held serve until the sixth game (3-3), when Marcos managed to break for a 4-3 lead. The match then entered the final straight. Marcos, with one more break in the ninth game, secure the third set 6-3 in 38 minutes.
Victory marked Marcos’ 54th Davis Cup win (both in singles and doubles), since his debut in 2000. Marcos has now won 38 matches in singles and lost only three. He is the youngest Cypriot athlete ever to play for the National team. He first participated in a Davis Cup match when he was only 14 years old.
After the end of the match Marcos said: “I stayed focussed and tried to return the ball many times. I was there at the critical points, I served well and Cyprus got its third victory.”
He was asked how he can manage to be on the same level of concentration when playing with top 5 players and with players ranked No. 1000 in the World Rankings: “This is how every professional athlete must think. All matches are tough irrespective of the opponent. I did not relax and this is the reason for winning easily, especially the first two sets.”
He also spoke about the next tie with Portugal: “We know Portugal well. I will try to to be there. We have a big chance to get to the first division as we have a good draw. We will try.”
As regards his personal goals, he said that “it is to get 200-300 points” in the next two tournaments he will play, starting with the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells next week. In conclusion he said: “I believe that the next two years will be my best ones. But I must have patience, stay there, work hard. Dream tennis, wake up to tennis, eat tennis and drink tennis!”
