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| | Jun 22 2008 14:41:03
bullet (Mod)
91 (1948) Posts
310 (3093) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 at Wimbledon GS (GBR) - Grass, Round of 128 << |
| | Bahdatis had a decent run in halle before running into Federer at the quarter final stage and the Cypriot has a healthy 24-13 grass court record. Darcis has had limited outings on the grass but boasts a mediocre 3-3 record to date. Baghdatis's last two Wimbledons have seen him go deep in the tournament with quarter and semi showings suggesting the Cypriot is a player to be feared on grass. Baghdatis looks to be over the ankle problem that saw him miss most of the clay season and has serious points from last year so should be up for this. Darcis enjoyed a good run when winning a sub-standard Memphis event earlier in the year on a fast indoor hard court and although he has shown encouraging signs on grass is up against what I consider to be one of the elite players, The Belgian has generally struggled against the top players who are able to defend better and has suffered losses against Ancic, Ferrer, Djokovic and Hewitt this year. Darcis does have a decent ground game but Baghdatis is a pretty good mover and with his ability to go down the line from either wing looks likely to lead the Belgian a merry dance. I do not think this will be close and anticipate a rather one sided scoreline for the Cypriot who comes to the event relatively fresh and i expect him to go deep in the tournament. |
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| | Jun 22 2008 03:38:44
d.carson (Mod)
128 (1166) Posts
505 (2349) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 at Wimbledon GS (GBR) - Grass, Round of 128 << |
| | I agree that this match could be a battle for Marcos. Baghdatis is one of the greatest players to watch whenhe's in full flow, such brilliance off both wings as he constructs the points cleverly. He can whip the forehand crosscourt to perfection and possesses a beautiful double-handed backhand down the line. He has struggled with injuries this year however and has played little tennis, 5 matches since April to be precise. Darcis is a confident player and a flashy baseliner who can also conjure up moments of brilliance. He was soundly beaten by Ancic last week in 's-Hertogenbosch and unlike Baghdatis, prefers to play his matches on the clay. I would have no qualms about backing Baghdatis under normal circumstances but lack of matches and a very short price has detered me. I think he will win however but it could be a little tougher than anticipated. I hope he does well as he is one of my favourite players too, Another much loved crowd favourite. Baghdatis 1/5 Darcis 10/3. |
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| | Jun 22 2008 03:19:26
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
190 (2918) Posts
1994 (9315) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 at Wimbledon GS (GBR) - Grass, Round of 128 << |
| | This is probably somewhat going against the grain, but I don't think this match will be easy for Baghdatis by any stretch of the imagination. He is one of my favourite players and his gifted talent is nothing short of remarkable, but he sometimes lacks the work ethic, the killer-instinct grint and a feeling for the big events in recent times. He has endured an average 2008 where he failed to surpass the second round in a run of 6 events prior to beating the uninspiring Hernych and the out-of-form veteran Santoro in Halle before humbled by the one and only Roger. On grass where the Cypriot has the game, Baghy was a semi-finallist here in 06 and went one step less last year beating Murray, Hewitt, Nalbandian and Davydenko along the way. He was bumped up the seedings here despite rankings which was much to the public disgust of local boy Andy Murray, and pressure is on him to deliver. Steve Darcis is a flashy but underrated baseliner from Belgium who has adapted fairly good to the grass given he is somewhat an unknown quantity on the terrain with a record of just 3-3. But in Halle, the fiery blonde showed his true colours with a crushing win over second-ranked compatriot Olivier Rochus, and competed well showing moments of brilliance against grass-lover Michael Llodra. Darcis was ever-cool under pressure and was not afraid to come into net where he showed surprisingly technically-sound skills, and if he can cut down the occasional errors from errant shot-making can be a formidable opponent. He is yet to deliver on the big stage or beat any of the top elite players, but the talent is there and he will be keen to re-enter the top 50 after a brief stint in May with a couple of wins here. Marcos is a supreme returner on serve so Darcis will need to serve at a high percentage and with power and accuracy, and must be on the attack from the word go as the Cypriot can simply turn on the switch if given too many "loose" balls and is one of the better exponents at changing the direction of the ball with limited ease. Marcos has had off-court dramas, injury problems and indifferent form this year, and if Darcis is ever going to make a name for himself it could well be here. Doubt he lacks the experience and self-belief to pull off the actual win provided Baghdatis is fit, but this one could well go the distance and a small stake on a 3-2 win in favour of the 10th seed could reap some big rewards given his tendency to "fall asleep" during his matches. |
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| | Jun 22 2008 01:24:31
teleqtrick
10 (20) Posts
0 (0) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 at Wimbledon GS (GBR) - Grass, Round of 128 << |
| | Marcos loves Wimbledon, the people love Marcos, Marcos loves grass. His game is perfectly suited for this surface and it will take the likes of Djokovic/Federer/Nadal to beat this guy. He's well up there with Roddick, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Karlovic and Ancic.(on grass) Darcis has made a pretty good debut on grass at Halle and 's Hertogenbosch, beating Rochus (Halle) and Serra (Bosch) before losing to big serves Llodra (Halle) and Ancic (Bosch). Baghdatis is another big server, he'll win this one easily. A good one to include in a multi. |
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| | Jun 20 2008 16:13:51
tank240388
3 (48) Posts
0 (0) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 at Wimbledon GS (GBR) - Grass, Round of 128 << |
| | baghdatis plays verry well on grass - he have a powerfoul serve - darcis played for the first time on grass in halle (he beat rochus and was defeat by Llodra) and this week in holland (75 63 over serra, and lost 26 46 to ancic). i would saw baghdatis but for the moment i don't know the odds |
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| | Jun 17 2008 01:08:31
bullet (Mod)
91 (1948) Posts
310 (3093) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Mario Ancic (CRO) d. Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-2 6-4 at s-Hertogenbosch ATP (NED) - Grass, Round of 16 << |
| | Ancic continued his fine form on the Dutch grass where he has won fourteen of his sixteen matches. The Croat served at an impressive 74% and held throughout in a comfortable win over Minar. Darcis had a little more difficulty than expected against Serra but the Belgian is proving he has been able to adapt his aggressive baseline game to grass. Ancic is however one of the more natural players on the surface and it is difficult to see Darcis making a breakthrough against the ultra efficient serve of the Croat. Ancic is rather under-rated on return and he is quiet capable of forcing break points on a fairly regular basis. Darcis will need to keep his groundies deep to prevent Ancic getting to net and dominanting proceedings but it might prove too tough a task for the Belgian. |
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| | Jun 15 2008 09:15:34
pintman
2 (25) Posts
0 (6) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Florent Serra (FRA) 7-5 6-3 at s-Hertogenbosch ATP (NED) - Grass, Round of 32 << |
| | steve darcis 2-0 |
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| | Jun 15 2008 03:07:05
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
190 (2918) Posts
1994 (9315) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Florent Serra (FRA) 7-5 6-3 at s-Hertogenbosch ATP (NED) - Grass, Round of 32 << |
| | Darcis was somewhat of an unknown quantity on the grass, but any who doubted his ability on the surface would have liked what they saw of the Belgian in Halle. He annihilated second ranked compatriot Olivier Rochus in the first round, then played some marvellous tennis under pressure but failed to play out the tiebreaks well in a 7-6 7-6 loss to big-serving Michael Llodra who lives for the grass season. Darcis was very solid on serve and won a lot of cheap points behind the first ball, and showed his vast array of shots from the baseline and holding his nerve on the key moments. Most impressive about him is he doesn't stop going for his sots regardlss of the scoreline and the situation, and as he showed an applausing Llodra on a few occasions he does have some very nice touch in the forecourt for a predominantly baseline player. Serra beat Robredo and Ferrero here back in 06 to reach the semis but failed in the first round last year, and has generally not fared too well on this surface. The Frenchman has not played a single match on the grass this year, his only lead up form coming at the French where he made the 3rd round then losing second round to Monaco in Warsaw after a retirement handed him a first round win. He has a decent serve and is fairly solid from the baseline, but has no weaponry that is going to hurt Darcis and I'd be fairly confident on backing Steve with a 2-0 result here. |
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| | Jun 14 2008 22:12:16
bullet (Mod)
91 (1948) Posts
310 (3093) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Florent Serra (FRA) 7-5 6-3 at s-Hertogenbosch ATP (NED) - Grass, Round of 32 << |
| | Serra is not known for his grass court prowess but the Frenchman was a semi-finalist here in 2006 and also beat Kohlschreiber in the first round at Wimbledon last year but his overall record of 8-8 on grass suggests he is eminently beatable. The fact Serra elected to play on the clay in Warsaw last week gives the impression he is not expecting too much from the short grass court season. Darcis was unbroken in twenty one service games in Halle but went out in round two to Llodra on two tie-breaks, the Belgian is relatively inexperienced on the grass with just four career matches but with two recent matches on grass under his belt has a definite edge. Both players are essentially baseliners but where Serra is much more defensively minded, Darcis is much more likely to go for his shots. It is very difficult to play a defensive game on grass which gives an undoubted advantage to Darcis. |
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