Isn't it great to see Marcos Baghadatis showing signs of life - and talent - again? Although this was said by some to be The Year of Carlos (Moya), he was beaten yesterday by Baghdatis, who saved four consecutive set points to win the first set 7-6(7), then ripped off 19 of the first 21 points of the next set. It was ugly, and when it was over, the scoreboard read 7-6, 6-1.
I've always felt that Moya was a somewhat underrated hard court player: he got to the finals of the Australian Open in 1997 and went deep at the U.S. Open a few times. So this was a quality win, in a year when Moya has played some great tennis. Baghdatis signalled that he is back at Wimbledon, where he pushed Novak Djokovic to the limit and beyond in their quarterfinal. Djokovic won, 7-5 in the fifth, but was forced to retire in his next match with foot problems sustained during his war with Baggy.
Speaking of which: remember that Djokovic was the best player during this year's spring hard court season, and he appears to be picking up where he left off. He could have another quarterfinal encounter with Baghdatis here.
Use this post for Rogers Cup Masters match calling; I will be back later with an OT post and some news about next week.