Thirty year-old Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis came back from a set down to beat Feliciano Lopez 3-6 7-6 6-1 setting up a final against Stan Wawrinka.
Lopez clinched the first set by 6-3 after breaking serve in the eighth game. Baghdatis fought back from a set and a break down at 3-4 by clawing back into the match to win the second set at the tie-break before cruising to 6-1 in the third set. The Cypriot broke serve three times to close out the third set in 32 minutes.
Baghdatis reached his career high in 2006 in the same year when he played the Australian Open final. His ranking dropped to World Number 151 in 2009 but he bounced back to move up to number 18 in 2010. His ranking dropped again to Number 155 in 2014 after a series of injuries. Baghdatis has reached hi biggest final since 2010
“It’s been a long road for me in the last three, four years. It’s all about fighting, getting back to where I want to be. Last year we set some goals to be in the top 50. I achieved that, now I am moving forward. I think I have still a lot to improve on, but the most important thing is that I am good healthwise. I don’t have any injuries and health problems that I had. I am happy I am back on the court and winning. It’s a nice feeling. I am going to work even harder so it continues. Last year we set some goals to be top 50. I achieved that. Now I am moving forward. I have thought of retiring. That’s where my wife (former player Karolina Sprem) was there and was very strong, made me take the right decisions. My agent, my parents, my team around me saw the light at the end of the tunnel”, said Baghdatis.
Italians Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi beat Lukas Kubot and Marcin Matkowski 6-4 6-4 to reach the men’s doubles final. Bolelli and Seppi got one break of serve in each set and never faced a single break point. Kubot and Matkowski saved two break points but the Italian team broke serve in the fifth game after fending off two more break points. The rest of the first set went on serve until Seppi and Bolelli closed out to love.
Bolelli and Seppi got their second break at the start of the second set. They held their service games until the end of the match.
