Baghdatis upbeat after Federer loss

MARCOS Baghdatis remains confident he can beat Roger Federer and win Wimbledon — even though the Swiss master outclassed him in the quarter-finals of the Gerry Weber Open.

The world number one eased his way into the last four at Halle courtesy of a 6-4 6-4 victory over his 22-year-old opponent.

Baghdatis lost his serve in the first game of the match and again in the fifth game of the second set to put Federer in the driving seat.

The Swiss denied the 2006 Wimbledon semi-finalist an immediate break back by recovering from 0-40 down. He saved a fourth break point moments later before cruising to another impressive victory.

Yet Baghdatis is confident Federer’s winning streak on grass, which hit 57 matches yesterday, will come to an end soon.

“There is a way to beat him on grass,” Baghdatis said. “If he plays not so good and I play a bit better there is a way.”

The Cypriot is not short of confidence anyway.

“I want to win Wimbledon,” he said. “I feel confident on grass and I am confident to go there. You need a little bit of luck, though, as I might not be seeded in the top 16. But with some confidence and luck why not win it?”

Fortune was not on Baghdatis’ side as he was unable to break Federer’s serve - wasting four break points in the middle of the second set.

“I had no chance to finish him off for the break,” Baghdatis said. “He served well, came to the net and won the important points. That made the difference today.

“I am very happy with the way I played today but Roger played a great match. He won like 83% of his first serves and was tough to return. I returned quite well but he was just better than me today.”

Federer was understandably pleased with his performance.

“I played well and did not have any problems on my service except for the 0-40,” he said.

“I did not double-fault or give him any easy points while he gave me a few too many and I took advantage of that. The score shows how the match was. It is very good to be in the semis without losing a set.”