Apia International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

Baghdatis battles into final

AAP Friday 15 January 2010 22 Comments »

Marcos Baghdatis’s love affair with the Australian tennis public continued on Friday as the popular Cypriot booked his place in the final of the Medibank International Sydney with a tremendous three-set victory battle with American Mardy Fish.

Baghdatis prevailed 6-4 6-7 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) against the big-serving Fish in an arm wrestle of a match that lasted a little under three hours.

The 2006 Australian Open finalist will now meet Richard Gasquet, who beat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the other semi-final, on Ken Rosewall Arena on Saturday.

Baghdatis spurned a match point in the second set and Fish took advantage of his reprieve to clinch the tiebreak 7-5.

The deciding set followed a similar pattern and, although both players broke serve early on, it took a second tiebreak to decide the winner with Baghdatis finally coming out on top against the world No.55 after squandering two further match points.

World No.53 Gasquet beat Benneteau 6-3 7-5 to qualify for his first final at this event after falling at the semi-final stages in 2009 and 2007, and showed glimpses of the form that took him to No.7 in the world three years ago.

Gasquet’s name was tarnished last May when he was banned for two-and-a-half months after traces of cocaine were found in his system, forcing him out of Wimbledon and the French Open.

His form after his return to action in July was indifferent as his ranking fell to 72 in October last year, as the World Anti Doping Authority’s (WADA) stepped up its push for a two-year ban for the 23-year-old.

However, that was thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month after it upheld Gasquet’s claim that the small traces of drug had found its way into his system after he kissed a girl in a Miami nightclub.

The former Wimbledon semi-finalist insists he is now playing for fun and with the weight of the world off his shoulders.

“It’s tough to come back, it’s hard in the head, so it was really tiring, more tiring than playing 100 matches for sure,” he said of his ordeal. “But I don’t care. I know it’s hard, but I want to play just for fun. That’s why I’m here and I’m enjoying myself.”

Tags: Marcos Baghdatis, Mardy Fish

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