Stakhovsky Prevails Against In-Form Baghdatis

© Getty ImagesSergiy Stakhovsky celebrates his win against top seed Marcos Baghdatis.

Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, the No. 9 seed, did double duty Thursday at Pilot Pen Tennis to book his place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 hard-court tournament.

After rain curtailed play Wednesday night in New Haven, Stakhovsky resumed his third-round match against sixth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo in a first set tie-break on Thursday morning and closed out a 7-6(5), 6-2 win. He then followed with a battling 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over top-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

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Stakhovsky broke to go up 4-3 against Baghdatis in the third set of their quarter-final match, but conceded the lead as he dropped serve in the next game. He regained the upper hand in the tie-break by racing out to a 5-1 lead and succeeded in closing out the match in two hours and 22 minutes. Baghdatis managed to convert on just three of his 15 break point opportunities during the match.

"I would say we were both tired," said Stakhovsky. "It was really an exhausting match, not only physically. I would say that if I would be more fit today, I would more or less be more nervous because some of the shots that Marcos did today was out of another league."

The 24-year-old Stakhovsky reached a career-high ranking of No. 46 in June after winning the grass-court title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, but afterward struggled with a 1-6 mark before recovering his form this week in Washington.

Baghdatis has been one of the standout players during the Olympus US Open Series, reaching the quarter-finals or better in four of the five past weeks. He finished runner-up to David Nalbandian in Washington at the start of the month, and posted upsets over World No. 7 Tomas Berdych and No. 1 Rafael Nadal en route to the Cincinnati semi-finals.

"I think normally if I was a bit more fresh, a bit more quick, I would just go to the net, finish the point," said the World No. 18. "I wasn't able to do that today because of a bit of tiredness. I played a long match yesterday, a three setter yesterday. It's been a good three weeks in the States for me."