| Monday, 23 June 2008 Written by Barry Newcombe Marcos Baghdatis knew all about the reputation of Wimbledon's Court 2, the so-called graveyard of champions where so many top-ranking players have fallen over the years. But 10th seed did not let this fact bother him when he met newcomer Steve Darcis of Belgium on that court today. The Cypriot won through to the second round 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 in two hours and 42 minutes. The point about Baghdatis is that Wimbledon expects him to do well. That is why he is seeded here 15 places above his world ranking. He reached the semi-finals two years ago when he beat former champion Lleyton Hewitt and then lost to Rafael Nadal. Today he showed he intended to live up to that belief as he faced 24-year-old Darcis who was making his debut at Wimbledon and playing in only his fourth Grand Slam. Darcis, a semi-finalist in the boys’ singles in 2002, made it clear from the outset that he intended to offer the Cypriot some proper competition and as early as the fifth game he had three break points on the Baghdatis serve. Baghdatis, a quarter-finalist last year, saved all three chances with winners. At 4-3, Baghdatis captured Darcis's serve for the first time, went to set point with his second ace of the match, and followed up with a service winner to clinch the first set after 33 minutes. Darcis now knew the pressure was on and Baghdatis gave him no relief by breaking serve in the third game of the second set, breaking him again in the seventh game, and serving out for a two-set lead with a flurry of winners. In the third set, the Belgian, after struggling to hold serve in the third game and saving two break points, began to raise the tempo a fraction and was hitting cleanly. He missed a set point against serve at 6-5 but in the tiebreak built a 6-3 lead with a fine cross-court forehand and three points later had pulled one set back. Baghdatis had had enough of this burst of pressure from Darcis and broke serve for 2-0 at the start of the fourth set. He extended that to 3-0 after saving two break points. In the next game, Darcis hit one of his best shots of the day, an inch-perfect forehand down the line. But his cause was fading, with the Cypriot settled in his rhythm and clearly believing he had victory in sight. Baghdatis served his ninth ace to help take his lead to 5-2. Two games later, he served for the match. Although he was beaten by a backhand down the line on his first match point, he won through on the second with a service winner.
| Court 2 - Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Round | |
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