Baghdatis downs Ito to set up Ferrer clash

 

MARCOS Baghdatis recovered from a set down to beat Tatsuma Ito of Japan 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the Australian Open to set up a mouth-watering clash with fourth seed David Ferrer of Spain on Wednesday in Melbourne.

“As I said after my opening match,  I always feel a lot of pressure when playing at the Australian Open so I want to thank all the Greek people who came again and supported me. I really appreciate it,” said Baghdatis afterwards.

The Cypriot broke Ito in the first game of the match and quickly went 3-1 up, but he then lost the next five games, allowing the Japanese, ranked 82, to claim the opener.

An angry outburst by Baghdatis at last year’s edition of the event, when the Cypriot smashed four rackets in quick succession during a changeover, has since had 1.4 million online hits, but there was no need for a similar reaction this time.

In the next three sets, he raised his game, minimised unforced errors and cruised to a comfortable victory in two hours and 13 minutes.

“It was a difficult match as it was really sunny, completely opposite to my first round match which finished close to 1am. I am pleased with the way I played. I was much more aggressive and it makes me happy that I went through,” he added.

Baghdatis, who made the final in Melbourne in 2006, will now play a blockbuster third-round clash with Ferrer, who yesterday also dropped a set to American lucky loser Tim Smyczek before raising his game to post a 6-0, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

The Spaniard, a semi-finalist in Melbourne two years ago, came into the Australian Open in a rich vein of form, having triumphed at the Heineken Open in Auckland last week for a record fourth time.

However, 27-year-old Baghdatis, ranked 35, who survived a five-set scare against Albert Ramos in the first round, knocked Ferrer out in Melbourne in the second round two years ago after fighting back from two sets down in an encounter that lasted more than four hours.

That was his only win in four meetings with the Spaniard, who claimed victories in the second round of the 2010 Madrid Masters, a year earlier in the quarter-finals of the SA Tennis Open in Johannesburg and in the third round of the 2006 Cincinnati Masters.