Andy Murray fought back from a set down to defeat Marcos Baghdatis and reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic men’s singles tournament at Wimbledon.
The No3 seed looked in trouble early on but turned things around in the middle of the second set and there were no real alarms as he came through 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Baghdatis is a dangerous grass-court player and Murray had to dig deep to beat him in the third round of Wimbledon recently. That match will mostly be remember for finishing at 11.02pm.
Murray had breezed through his first two matches, against Stanislas Wawrinka and Jarkko Nieminen, but, with the Centre Court roof open and a stiff breeze blowing, it immediately became clear this would be very different.
The Scot looked nervous and Baghdatis seized the initiative with a break of serve. Murray retrieved that in the fourth game but the match was still being played on the Cypriot’s terms.
Baghdatis moved ahead again in the seventh game and, although Murray saved two set points on his own serve, he could not prevent his opponent taking the opening set.
The third seed moved closer to the baseline at the start of the second set and he got his reward, although he needed a gift from Baghdatis, who netted a forehand with the court gaping to hand Murray a 3-1 lead.
The Scot then fought back from 0-30 down in the next game and that seemed to relax him. A second break followed immediately and then the set.
Baghdatis had rather fallen apart after such a bright start and Murray made it six games in a row at the start of the third with another break, winning the opening point courtesy of a full-length diving volley.
The only frustration for the 25-year-old and his fans was that he did not manage another break in a third set he dominated, but one was enough as he clinched victory with a forehand winner after an hour and 59 minutes.
Baghdatis threw everything into the last game, leading 15-30 at one point, but it was not enough.
Wimbledon champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams were on course for further success at the All-England Club after booking their places in the Olympic singles semi-finals on Thursday.
World number one Federer will face Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro for a place in the final, while Williams takes on top women’s seed Victoria Azarenka in a repeat of her Wimbledon semi last month.
The two other semi-finals will pit Beijing bronze medallist Novak Djokovic against number three seed Andy Murray, and Russia’s Maria Kirilenko faces her team mate Maria Sharapova.
Source: Reuters