By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, February 26, 2016
Marcos Baghdatis rallied past Feliciano Lopez, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-1, to set up a Dubai final against Stan Wawrinka.
Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Digging away Marcos Baghdatis' low drives that danced near his shins, Feliciano Lopez wore the frustration of a man gnawed by nuisances be couldn't control.
Baghdatis broke serve five times and battered Lopez's concentration rallying for a 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-1 victory that sent him into his first Dubai final against Stan Wawrinka in a match pitting the 2014 Australian Open champion vs. the 2006 Australian Open finalist.
The second-seeded Swiss led Nick Kyrgios, 6-4, 3-0, when the 20-year-old Aussie retired with a strained back and hip.
More: Wawrinka Into Dubai Final as Kyrgios Retires
Despite serving just 45 percent today, Baghdatis stayed the course, hustled for stray balls, protected his second serve with more vigilance and lured Lopez into imploding in reaching his first final since Atlanta last July.
Playing for his first title since the 2010 Sydney tournament, Baghdatis is winless in five matches with Wawrinka but should be emboldened by his performance this week.
For two sets, this second semifinal was entertaining. Lopez chip and charged a few times challenging his opponent to produce passes and Baghdatis hit some brilliant running shots. But Lopez blew a 4-3, one break lead in the second set then completely collapsed in the tie breaker as his favored forehand failed him.
The Spanish left-hander repeatedly slice no-pace backhands to Baghdatis' two-hander, fishing for a short ball he could attack with his forehand. Slow-balling Baghdatis with a series of backhands, Lopez ripped a forehand crosscourt blowing-up a 22-shot rally for break point.
Targeting his opponent's weaker wing on a serve-volley attempt, Baghdatis got burned as Lopez blocked a backhand return down the line breaking for 5-3. The 24th-ranked Spaniard slid a slice serve wide on his third set point snatching a one-set lead after a half-hour of play.
Baghdatis betrayed his cause serving an unsightly 37 percent in the opening set. Lopez suffered self-inflicted wounds to start the second.
Winning six of eight trips to net in the first set, Lopez badly bungled a high backhand volley to face break point in the second. Dipping a low ball Baghdatis forced Lopez into another errant backhand volley, breaking for 2-0.
Lopez sped through a 28-second service game to get on the board.
Serving issues continued to haunt the Cypriot. A hideous three double-fault game, including back-to-back double faults, saw Baghdatis gift the break back in the fifth game.
Baghdatis' compact two-hander is typically a reliable shot, but Lopez used his slice to claw and error off that side for double break point. Banging a crosscourt forehand, Lopez drew another error, winning his third straight game for 4-3. Baghdatis wasn't done. He broke back, then saved a break point with a stinging serve.
Crouching low, Baghdatis banged a backhand pass down the line for 5-4. The shot sent Baghdatis fans, hoisting his nation's flag, bouncing up and down in the aisle while the expressive baseliner with the Samurai hairstyle pulled a the lawn-mower celebration move reminiscent of a young Lleyton Hewitt.
In the tiebreaker, Lopez lost it.
Four consecutive forehand errors followed by a couple of shots into net left Lopez staring down six set points. Only a tiff with his coach followed by a Lopez outburst when he fired a ball off the back wall, nearly missing a ball kid, disrupted his free fall. When the Spaniard steered a backhand wide, his seventh error of the breaker, Baghdatis evened the match.
The Baghdatis backhand down the line helped create the key break. He belted a backhand at Lopez's feet converting his third break point for 2-1 in the decider.
A running forehand down the line gave Baghdatis another break point and when Lopez nudged a volley into net, Baghdatis had the double-break lead for 4-1.
The 57th-ranked Baghdatis wrapped up a two hour, 30-minute victory committing 20 fewer unforced errors (30 to 50) than Lopez. Baghdatis dropped to his knees and kissed the court before departing, looking like a man who loved an eventful day at work.