Marcos Baghdatis in Action

Two players with plenty of experience will go head-to-head today to see who claims the first prize of $281,500 and 500 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking Points. The 25-year old Baghdatis will be playing in his second ATP finals this season and his ninth overall. Those are impressive numbers until you remember that David Nalbandian was once number three in the world. The 28-year old Argentine will be playing in his 21st tour finals.

Ironically both players have won half of their finals matches. Baghdatis is 4-4 and Nalbandian 10-10. The Cypriot has amassed 31 wins in 2010 against 17 losses while the Argentine is 16-3.

In the semifinals, Baghdatis asserted himself early by breaking Xavier Malisse in the third and fifth games to seize the momentum in the 6-2, 7-6 (4) triumph. Malisse had a break point opportunity in the eighth game but the Cypriot was up to the task.

Baghdatis is serving with more confidence on the hard court and he dominated play with his tenacious return of serve. Malisse always seemed to be on the move and in a defensive posture against the 8th seeded favorite.

In the final set, Baghdatis rolled his ankle in the eighth game while serving at 30/40 4-3. As Baghdatis fell to the ground Malisse sailed his shot long. Marcos was forced to take an injury timeout and when he returned, he held serve.

At 5-5, the players exchanged breaks with the winner committing three unforced errors at 6-5 to send the set into a tiebreaker. Baghdatis threw two early aces at Malisse en route to a 6-1 lead he would not relinquish.

The Cypriot won in Sydney early in the season and is looking to jumpstart his U.S. Open bid with a win on Sunday. He has defeated Nalbandian in three of the last four matches they have played.

Nalbandian has caught players and analysts by surprise with his stellar play. The Argentine returned to the tour after a nine-month recovery from right hip surgery. He has been careful with his playing time. The Legg Mason is just his fourth tournament of the year.

His strategy seemed to be to engage the fourth seeded Marin Cilic in long rallies, of which he won a wide majority. He also was determined to attack Cilic’s second serve. He employed this strategy to perfection as the Croat only won 6 of his 23 second service points in the 6-2, 6-2 drubbing.

The Legg Mason finals will be the first finals on American soil for both players. Nalbandian is attempting to emulate Juan Martin Del Potro who won here last year.

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