Baghdatis through to Halle quarter-finals

Marcos Baghdatis has advanced into the last eight of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany with a straight sets victory over local favourite Dustin Brown.

The Cypriot, who is in Germany as part of his Wimbledon preparations, followed up his impressive win over world number eight Tomas Berdych on Tuesday by beating Brown 7-5 7-6 after a long rain delay.

He will play another German, Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Ahead of the clash with Brown, the Cypriot spoke of his confidence being back on a surface he liked. “I think I can play very well on grass. It suits my game, my style of play,” he said.

And the confidence was on display early on, with Baghdatis hitting a series of confident winners with his opponent unable to react. The German eventually got back into his stride and pushed the Cypriot close, but Baghdatis held his nerve to take the first set 7-5.

The Limassol native is fast becoming a tie-break specialist. In his win over Berdych, both sets were won on a tie-break, and he would seal his place in the quarter-finals in the same way, seeing off his opponent 10-8.

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