Baghdatis misses out on quarterfinals at the Brisbane International

Marcos Baghdatis was eliminated in the second round of the ATP World Tour 250 Brisbane International at the hands of Czech Thomas Berdych in the alarming fashion of 6-0, 6-1 after only an hour and five minutes of play on Wednesday at the Pat Rafter Arena.

The Cypriot number one was enthusiastic after his first round, straight sets, victory over American Mardy Fish: “It was not my best match, but I am very happy with the way I played today. It is my first match since two and a half, three months, so I am pretty happy.”

“In the off season I worked hard on my fitness; I am quicker, fitter and I am enjoying it. I am happy I won and with my attitude on-court,” he added.

However, in the second round the fourth seeded Berdych lost a mere eight points in the entire first set and then continued in the similar fashion in the second to advance to the quarterfinals as Baghdatis served miserably at 36 percent, while having 26 percent of his second serve points won.

A menacing first service game from Berdych saw the Czech player hold to love and he instantly capitalized on a lack of first serves from the Cypriot to take a 2-0 lead. Baghdatis struggled to rein in his unforced errors throughout the set, while Berdych was dominant from the baseline and able to dictate the majority of points racing away without losing a single game in the opener, closing it out with a forehand cross-court winner.

Urged on by the capacity crowd on Pat Rafter Arena, Baghdatis started the second set strongly and notched his first game of the encounter to draw level at 1-1, benefitting from some much needed first serves; however, Berdych was undeterred in his focus and he quickly raced to a 5-1 lead with a series of unanswered potent ground strokes. The Czech completed his on-fire performance with a blistering forehand winner to secure his place in the quarter-finals.

Berdych will now take on the eight seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil for a spot in the semifinals, who defeated Israeli Harel Levy 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in his second round encounter. Baghdatis on the other hand will have a couple of days to prepare for the ATP World Tour 250 Medibank International in Sydney in his final preparation for the Australian Open.

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