Baghdatis takes to grass

Marcos Baghdatis had never won a match on grass until one month ago and had responded to a first round defeat to Romanian wild card Andrei Pavel in Halle by insisting: “Grass is for playing football”.

But Baghdatis has quickly come to appreciate the finer points of a surface which is no longer his least favourite, after a captivating Wimbledon quarter-final win over Lleyton Hewitt.

The flamboyant Cypriot swatted the former champion’s challenge 6-1 5-7 7-6 6-2 with a performance which won over the crowd just as he had during his mach to the Australian Open final earlier this year.

Now Baghdatis tells a different story, insisting: “I like grass courts and it fits my game playing really aggressive. There is nothing I don’t like about it now.”

Baghdatis’ delightful mixture of searing ground strokes and audacious drop shots were a joy to behold and when he stood on the brink of victory his excitement betrayed the faintest flicker of a smile.

“That’s just the way I am,” added Baghdatis. “I love playing this game and I just go on the court to enjoy it. I love it when I am playing in front of so many people who are supporting me.”

The thunderstorms raging around Wimbledon may have cleared by the time they got on court but Hewitt clearly did not expect to walk straight into a Cypriot cyclone.

It took Baghdatis, who was stretched to five sets in the first round by Scot Alan Mackin a mere 26 minutes to wrap up a first set of dazzling intensity, before he went on to double-break Hewitt at the start of the second.

Only vivid memories of the sixth-seeded Australian’s legendary fighting qualities seemed to be separating the Centre Court crowd from an unexpectedly early retreat to the Pimm’s tents.

Baghdatis was never going to keep going at such improbable pace and sure enough, Hewitt began to stir, double-breaking back before taking advantage of his tightening opponent to pull off a great escape.

Baghdatis added: “I went onto the court believing I could win because I have beaten a lot of good players but in the middle of the second I realised I was beating Hewitt. I started choking a little bit but I got through.”

Level at one set all, the match seemed destined to go in Hewitt’s favour but again the remarkable Baghdatis rallied, breaking his opponent immediately and shutting away those second set nerves.

Disappointed Hewitt admitted: “It just didn’t happen for me out there today. I struggled to get into the match and never played great. I just hung in there but was not able to take my chances.”

It was Baghdatis who grabbed the advantage, fashioning two set points at 6-4 and converting his second one with a sensational backhand winner down the line which sparked a flamboyant celebration.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, it was the champion prize-fighter Hewitt who began to fade along with the Centre Court light, as 21-year-old Baghdatis exhibited a maturity beyond his years.

With a Wimbledon semi-final within touching distance, Baghdatis saved his strongest series of service games for the fourth set, breaking Hewitt for a 3-1 lead with two blistering backhands.

There was to be no way back for the Australian, a man whose Wimbledon crown not to mention his record-equalling four title wins at Queen’s Club boasted rather better grass-court pedigree.

Instead Baghdatis forced Hewitt to have to serve out to try to stay in the match and bossed the play enough to pressure one final error from his opponent and complete his fairytale grass-court conversion.

“I don’t think he is going to win it but if he plays the way he did when he started off today he can make the final,” said Hewitt.

“If he plays Nadal he has got a chance but it will not be easy for him.”