After trailing 0-2, Punjab Marshalls’ Marcos Baghdatis won three consecutive matches to turn things around to help the visitors register a 3-2 win over Mumbai Tennis Masters in an Champions Tennis League tie
After trailing 0-2, Punjab Marshalls’ Marcos Baghdatis won three consecutive matches to turn things around to help the visitors register a 3-2 win over Mumbai Tennis Masters in an Champions Tennis League (CTL) tie at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) yesterday.
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Punjab Marshalls’ Marcos Baghdatis in action during his mixed doubles match with partner Elina Svitolina at MSLTA. Pics/Sameer Markande
Mumbai took an early lead as Richard Krajicek got the better of Greg Rudeski 5-4 in the legends match.
It was this year’s US Open winner Flavia Pennetta who extended the lead for Mumbai winning the women’s singles against Elina Svitolina 5-2.
After trailing 0-2, Punjab’s mixed doubles pair of Baghdatis and Svitolina beat Santiago Giraldo and Pennetta 5-2 to get their team back into the contest. In the men’s doubles, Baghdatis paired up with Saketh Myneni to beat Mumbai's pair of Giraldo and Sriram Balaji 5-3 taking the tie into the decider.
In the final match between Baghdatis and Giraldo, the former beat Columbian 5-4 (5-3) in tie-breaker to help visitors win the opener 21-19 on points.
Baghdatis said that he was glad to have helped his team win in hot and humid conditions.
Flavia Pennetta in action yesterday at MSLTA
“The conditions were tough, hot and humid. We were still recovering from our jet lag as we landed in the city just a day ago. But it is always nice to help the team win the tie. I am glad to have won it after we were trailing 0-2,” said Baghdatis in the post-match conference.
Talking about playing against Pennetta, Svitolina said, “My opponent was far superior to me today. I couldn’t capitalise on the errors she made. I’m happy with the way the men played.”