Marcos Baghdatis - the No.11 seed here at the Aegon Championships finally over came the stubborn resistance from Fredrico Gil of Portugal in three sets that were spread over two hours and nineteen mins. The Cypran finally won 7-6,4-6,6-2 arrowing 13 aces in the match.

A very close first set was finally won by the man from Cyprus. Baghdatis looked weak early on, and it seemed as if Gil would run away with it especially when he broke in the 7th game. All that however changed when Baghdatis broke right back. There was no looking back from there as he tightened the screws to win the set in the tie-break. The set lasted for over an hour, with the first game alone accounting for 12 minutes of it. Both players broke each other once, but the Cypran needed only two break points to do it, while Gil squandered  four of his. Baghdatis also served 5 aces and had a first serve percentage of 66.

The second was another set filled drama and commotion. One could not tell which way the set is going to go up until set point for Gil. The Portuguese played well in the set and it was the least he deserved. In the all important seventh game, he saved 3 break points to deny the Cypran. His stats in the set depict just why he deserved to win this set - he had a first serve percentage of 74 compared to a modest 63 from Baghdatis. He won 34 points in the set compared to 30 from the Cypran.

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The third set was a set where Baghdatis oozed with confidence, and looked to break the Portuguese with every opportuninty. The first game itself had 3 deuces and one break point, but Baghdatis couldn't capitalize. As we moved further into the set, the inevitable happened, as Baghdatis broke not once but twice to eventually take a 5-1 lead. He finally took the set 6-2. He served 5 aces and had a high first serve percentage of 84.