Baghdatis overcomes slow start at Wimbledon
Cyprus’s Marcos Baghdatis, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, has reached the Grand Slam tournament’s second round following a 3-1 win yesterday over unseeded 18-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis. Baghdatis, the tournament’s 10th seed, dropped the opening set 6-3 against the Latvian, who was making his debut Wimbledon appearance. But the Cypriot soon found his way against the inexperienced Gulbis, playing only his second Grand Slam tournament. Baghdatis, who lost the opening set after 27 minutes of play, responded by taking the matches’s next three sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 and finishing off his rival in just under two hours. Gulbis, who managed to move Baghdatis around with ease in the opening set, eventually made 37 unforced errors, compared to the Cypriot’s 14.
