Baghdatis Upsets Tomic To Reach Stockholm QFs
Former champion Marcos Baghdatis upset fourth seed Bernard Tomic 7-6(7), 6-3 on Wednesday at the If Stockholm Open to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since June.
“I think I played very smart today,” said Baghdatis. “I used my slice a lot, I used my brain a lot. It was important to do that against Bernie. You need to be smart on court and not hurry too much and I think I did it very well. It paid off today so I’m very, very happy.”
The Cypriot won the third of his four ATP World Tour titles in Stockholm in 2009, defeating Olivier Rochus in the final. The 30-year-old Baghdatis, who was runner-up in Atlanta in the summer (l. to Isner), goes on to face Gilles Muller, whom he beat in their one previous meeting in the Atlanta semi-finals.
“I’ve known him since we were juniors,” said Baghdatis. “We’ve traveled together since we were 14 years old. We know each other very well. I’ll try to work on some things tomorrow and hopefully I can come 100 per cent ready on Friday and try to find a way to win.”
Eighth seed Muller reached his 10th ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season as he defeated John Millman 7-5, 6-3 in the second round.
The 32-year-old Muller fired 14 aces and converted three of his four break points as he wrapped up his 33rd victory of the season in 76 minutes.
No. 7 seeded American Jack Sock served his way into the quarter-finals (10 aces, 85 per cent of first serve points won) with a 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4 win over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco. The 23-year-old is seeking his second career ATP World Tour title, his first coming in Houston earlier this year.
No. 3 Seed Gilles Simon of France dispatched Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-4, converting four of six break-point opportunities in the one-hour, 19-minute contest.
“It’s always more difficult than it looks,” said Simon. “I had a really good start. Then it was a bit harder in the middle of the second set. Finally, I played a really good match.”
Of the prospect of facing Sock in the next round, Simon said, “He’s playing great tennis. It’s going to be difficult. We met in Rome. I won [4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3], but it was a tough match.”
Top Seeds Reach Doubles Quarter-finals
Top seeds Jeremy Chardy and Robert Lindstedt raced into the quarter-finals, defeating German duo Benjamin Becker and Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-1 in just 51 minutes. Chardy and Lindstedt are playing together for just the second time. Home hope Lindstedt is bidding to win the Stockholm crown for the first time, following runner-up finishes in 2012 (w/ Zimonjic) and 2013 (w/ Bjorkman).
