Photo: Arne Forsell/rca productions
Marcos is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since February 2008 after defeating Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the If Stockholm Open on Friday at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Sweden.
Marcos’ last appearance in an ATP World Tour semi-final came last year at the Open 13 in Marseille, where he lost to Mario Ancic. He will now face top seed Robin Soderling for a place in his seventh tour-level final.
Marcos came out the blocks quickly against qualifier Clement, breaking early in the first set, which proved to suffice as he went on to assume a one-set lead. Former World No. 10 Clement hit back in the second set, breaking serve to lead 3-1. Marcos quickly restore equilibrium in the set, though, and won five of the last six games to clinch victory after 87 minutes.
If Stockholm Open Photo Gallery
In his semi-final clash with Soderling, Marcos will hope for a repeat of their meeting in the second round of the Australian Open earlier this year, when he rallied from a set down to defeat the Swede in four sets. Soderling leads their head-to-head series 3-2, having won all three of their hard-court meetings before Marcos’ victory in Melbourne.
Marcos vs. Soderling: Head-to-head
Soderling has added incentive to defeat Marcos in front of his home fans, as the new Top 10 member can make up ground in the battle to secure one of the remaining two berths at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, should he reach the final in Stockholm.
The Tibro native is currently in ninth position in the Battle for London, after a career-best season that has seen him reach his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros (l. to Federer) and win his first ATP World Tour title on home soil in Bastad.
The match will take place on Centre Court on Saturday, with play beginning not before 3:00 p.m. (+2 hrs GMT). The first semi-final sees Thomaz Bellucci face Olivier Rochus.
Check out the full order of play here.
Point-by-point live scoring of the match is available here.
You can check to see if you have live TV coverage here.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for the latest news and photos from the Swedish capital.
Go, Marcos!
