By The Crowd
January 18th 2008 @ 7:27am
Baghdatis downs Safin to set date with Hewitt
Marcos Baghdatis locked in a date with Lleyton Hewitt after dumping Marat Safin out of the Australian Open in a five-set classic last night.
In a second-round encounter of the highest quality between two Melbourne Park favourites, Baghdatis denied the gallant Russian 6-4 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-2 in three hours and 13 gripping minutes.
The 15th-seeded Cypriot, who won the hearts of tennis fans all over with his breathtaking run to the 2006 Open final, will now meet Hewitt in a Saturday night showstopper at Rod Laver Arena.
Hewitt earlier today booked his place in the third round with an unconvincing 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 5-7 6-1 win over world No.216 Denis Istomin before conceding he’d have to be on top of his game to overcome either Baghdatis or Safin.
“Baghdatis or Safin, it’s going to be a tough match,” Hewitt said. “Both guys can play. They’ve both played really well here in the past.
“Both guys are great ball-strikers, a couple of the most talented guys in the world. I’m going to have to play a pretty clean match.”
He got that right.
Veteran Channel Seven commentator John Alexander described the standards Baghdatis and Safin set tonight as “out of this world”, while two-time Open champion and former world No.1 Jim Courier was also left in awe.
“Oh come on, this is ridiculous,” Courier gasped at one point when Safin brilliantly pulled off a Boris Becker-like diving volley winner late in the third set to spark his inspired comeback.
Baghdatis must have thought he’d fractured Safin’s spirits when he took a two-sets-to-love lead after breaking the dual grand slam champion’s serve in a 10-minute 10th game of the second set.
But Safin did not make three finals in four years and lift the trophy in 2005 with victory over Hewitt without having the heart of a lion.
Even with a ranking of No.58 in the world after being plagued by knee injuries since his triumph tree years ago, Safin refused to give up the ghost.
After taking the third set with a pair of service breaks, Safin again seized the initiative with another break early in the fourth set and eventually levelled the match after almost two-and-three-quarter hours of enthralling tennis.
But he was unable to sustain the challenge, dropping his opening service game in the deciding set and falling behind 3-0 before obliterating a racquet as he sensed the match slipping away.
Safin could not retrieve the break and Baghdatis hung tough to move into the last 32 at the season’s opening major.
For the popular Safin, after missing his title defence in 2006 with injury, it was another cruel and premature exit from the Open after he fell similarly short against Andy Roddick in the third round last year.
Baghdatis, though, lives on and his showdown with Hewitt looms as another bottler.
Baghdatis, who suffered a second-round disappointment last year when he went down to talented Frenchman Gael Monfils, was hugely relieved to escape with victory.
“Marat was playing great tennis, especially in the third and fourth sets. He was just hitting the lines,” Baghdatis said.
“The fifth set, I just tried to stay focused and I was serving very big and I’m just glad I won.
“Last year it was tough coming back but now I’m more experienced, and fitter for sure. I can handle the pressure a bit better. It’s good.”
The 15th seed was reluctant to make any predictions before playing Hewitt.
“I’ll just relax tomorrow and I’ll start thinking about the match tomorrow,” he said.
“I won’t say anything. I’ll just try my best.”
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