Baghdatis out, Nadal delayed in Madrid

Marcos Baghdatis has been beaten in the first round of the Madrid Open.

The Cypriot tennis star lost 7-6(1) 6-4 to big-serving Australian Nick Kyrgios.

Rafael Nadal meanwhile has asked to begin his participation in the claycourt tournament a day later than planned due to an ear infection, meaning he will face Italian Fabio Fognini on Wednesday.

Nadal is seeking a third consecutive claycourt title of the season after winning the Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters but his preparation for the tournament in the Spanish capital has been interrupted by the infection.

“On Friday I woke up at three in the morning with pain, a discomfort I had never felt before,” the 14-time grand slam winner told a news conference on Monday.

“I went to the doctor and he told me I had an ear infection. It’s nothing important but it is bothering me, it has caused me headaches and I’ve been feeling dizzy.

“Today I felt better and was able to train well for two hours.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.