Marcos Baghdatis secured a welcome return to winning ways as he defeated American wildcard Ryan Sweeting in LA.
First win for two months for Cypriot in Los Angeles
Marcos Baghdatis secured a welcome return to winning ways as he defeated American wildcard Ryan Sweeting in the second round of the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles.
The third-seeded Cypriot had not won a match since the second round of the French Open in Paris after three straight defeats on grass.
However, the former world junior champion secured a satisfying 3-6 6-2 6-3 victory over Sweating to rediscover his winning touch on the hardcourts that suit his game a lot better.
"It's been two months and that's a long time," said Baghdatis. "I came to LA knowing I wasn't going to be playing my best tennis.
"I came with this mentality of fighting for every match. I felt really bad on court and it's good to win a match when you feel bad. The positive attitude is there, which is very important, looking forward to the next one."
Battle
Baghdatis came through after an hour and 50 minutes at the LA Tennis Centre, with 11 aces helping his cause.
Sixth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic will be next in line for Baghdatis, after he overcame who Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman 7-6 6-2.
The opening match of the day saw veteran German Rainer Schuettler became the first player to reach the last eight as he scraped past American Robby Ginepri 6-3 3-6 6-4.
The 34-year-old is the oldest player at the event but still had enough in the tank as he converted three of his seven break points to seal a tie with big-serving American Sam Querry in the quarter-finals.
Querrey, who beat Australian Carsten Ball in last year's final, produced an erratic display but eventually got the better of South African qualifier Kevin Anderson
"It was tough out there and he's got such a big serve," said Querrey. "I got lucky.
"I just focused a little harder on my service games, got a few more returns and really turned it around there."
