SECOND SEED Andy Murray flirted with disaster before beating nemesis Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 2-6 6-4 in a cliffhanger to reach the last 16 of the Japan Open yesterday.
Briton Murray, fresh from winning his third title of the year in Bangkok, left it late to avoid a fourth defeat in five meetings against the Cypriot on his return to Tokyo.
“In the first two sets he definitely played better than me,” Murray told reporters. “I did a lot of the running and I was lucky to win the first set on a tiebreak.
“They were very different conditions to last week in Thailand and with the roof across it’s also different. It took me longer to find my range.
“He is a tough guy to play against. He has a big serve. He can hurt you in many ways on the court.”
Making his first appearance in Japan since 2006, Murray took the first set tiebreak 7-4 with a ferocious serve Baghdatis challenged in vain, the Scot marching off to his seat without bothering to look up at the slow-motion replay.
With the centre court roof closed because of heavy rain, Baghdatis caught fire in the second set, while Murray’s temper looked like boiling over in the face of intense pressure.
Down 3-1 in the decider after another loose shot, Murray hit back for 3-3, letting out a roar after forcing Baghdatis to net a backhand and hauling himself back into the match.
Baghdatis, a former Australian Open runner-up, blinked first, saving one match point set up by an astonishing backhand lob from Murray.
It proved only a temporary stay of execution as Murray forced him into a wild backhand moments later to secure a place in the next round, where American Alex Bogomolov awaits.
Sixth seed Janko Tipsarevic, who won his first ATP Tour title by beating Baghdatis for the Malaysian Open title at the weekend, came down to earth with a bump.
The Serbian was upset 7-6 6-7 7-5 by Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov in a marathon first round match which lasted a shade over three hours.
Tipsarovic complained of feeling unwell after the match.
“The travel to Tokyo killed me,” he said. “The doctor told me I have a viral infection and to rest for three days.”
Matches on outside courts were abandoned due to the bad weather.
