Photo: Ron C. Angle
Marcos advanced to the second round of the inaugural Open de Nice Cote d’Azur after beating French lucky loser Laurent Recouderc, a late replacement for the injured Mario Ancic, 6-4, 7-5 on Monday at the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament.
In a closely contested first set, the No. 179-ranked Recouderc saved five break points before Marcos broke through his defences in the 10th game to seal a one-set lead.
Marcos looked to have the match won as he broke serve in the eighth game of the second set and served for victory at 5-3, however the 25-year-old Recouderc hit back with his first break of the match and went on to level at 5-5.
Marcos quickly regrouped, though, and after holding serve for a 6-5 lead he broke Recouderc’s serve once more to seal victory after 90 minutes.
After the match, Marcos tweeted: “Hey guys, I am going to the press conference now... then going to eat, have a massage and rest for tomorrow ..... :)”
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For a place in the quarter-finals Marcos will face German Simon Greul, who defeated French wild card Arnaud Clement on Monday. World No. 61 Greul has only won back-to-back ATP World Tour-level matches once this season, when he reached the third round in Indian Wells. It will be the first time the two players have met.
The match will be played first on Centre Court on Wednesday, with play beginning at 11am local time. Check out the full order of play here.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news from Nice.
Go, Marcos!
