CYPRUS MAIL
By Nemanja Bjedov
MARCOS Baghdatis beat Yassine Idmbarek 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 in Sunday¹s first reverse singles rubber to help Cyprus reach the Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II second round in April with a 3-2 victory over Morocco. Younes Rachidi beat Cypriot youngster Christos Hadjigeorgiou 6-2, 6-2 in the final match of the weekend at the Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre in Limassol.
The two countries split Friday¹s opening singles when Baghdatis and Idmbarek posted wins and Cyprus, captained by Yiannis Hadjigeorgiou, took the doubles match on Saturday behind Baghdatis and Cuzdriorean. In the second round, from April 6-8, Cyprus will visit last year¹s Group I nation Ukraine, who thrashed Monaco 5-0 in their first round encounter. Baghdatis will now travel to Rotterdam where he will take on German qualifier Matthias Bachinger in the first round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The Cypriot number one beat Bachinger in both of their meetings on the tour so far. Last season in the opening round of the Moselle Open in Metz, Baghdatis triumphed 7-5, 6-2, while in 2007 in the second round of the BMW Open in Munich he recovered from a set down to top the German 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
If Baghdatis overcomes Bachinger, his potential opponent in the second round could be second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych. The world number seven would represent a major obstacle to the in-form Cypriot, who defends 90 points in Rotterdam earned last year after he reached the quarter-finals of the event.
