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Tuesday September 29, 2009

Baghdatis comes from behind to win the first round

By LIM TEIK HUAT

KUALA LUMPUR: American comeback kid Taylor Dent and 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus justified their respective wildcard status in the Proton Malaysian Open tennis championships with upset wins in the men’s singles first round at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.

The big-serving Dent got the better of world No. 67 Andrey Golubev 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) of Kazakhstan after battling for more than two hours on centre court.

Baghdatis, who is attempting to make a comeback after multiple injuries, came from behind to beat world No. 75 Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

Fighting display: Andrew Golubev returning a shot to Taylor Dent during the first round match at Proton Malaysia Open at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday. Dent won 6-4, 3-6, 6-5 (7-4).

Dent is currently ranked at No. 122 and he required a wildcard to feature in the main draw of the inaugural ATP World Tour event in Malaysia.

Dent double-faulted twice to allow his rival to tie at 5-5 in the deciding set. However, both held their serve in the next two games, forcing a tie-breaker. And the American prevailed to win 7-4 in the tie-break and he was relieved that he pulled through.

“I served great but there were also bad shots at times. I was lucky to sneak through in the crucial ends,” said Dent, who is making a comeback to the World Tour after a back injury kept him out for three years. The Californian would have been left crippled if he had not gone for surgery that confined him to bed for close to a year.

The 28-year-old Dent can certainly make a lasting impression on Malaysian tennis fans as his next opponent is none other than top seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia. The world No. 8 Russian received a bye into the second round and will only be in action tomorrow evening.

“I last played against him at the US Open and won but that was a few years back,” said Dent.

“He is a big server and I will need to prevent him from dictating the points. He will make me play some tough balls out there but I believe I will get more confidence going for me after this.”

Also brimming with confidence is Frenchman Gael Monfils. The world No. 13 ended a four-year title drought when he lifted the Moselle Open in Metz on Sunday.

In only his second appearance in a final this year, the charismatic French star defeated German Philip Kohlschreiber 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. Monfils was the runner-up in Acapulco early in the season.

“I am very happy about winning this title. I’ve been waiting for it for a long time,” said Monfils, who arrived for the Malaysian Open last night.

“Being in France, this title is even more special to me as I won it in front of my family and friends.”

Monfils will be up against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan tomorrow.

In the doubles, the India-Pakistan wildcard combination of Rohan Bopanna-Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi knocked out fourth seeded Swede-Australian pairing of Simon Aspelin-Paul Hanley 6-3, 6-4.

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