Tennis/Australian Open: Second seed Andy Roddick suffered a shock defeat yesterday to a flamboyant Cypriot who is developing a cult following at the Australian Open. Marcos Baghdatis scored the biggest win of his career with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset in the fourth round that sparked wild celebrations among fans from Melbourne's Greek community who have adopted Baghdatis as one of their own.
"I think it's one of my best matches in my life," said Baghdatis, the world's number one junior in 2003. "I'm just in my own world and playing my best tennis and having the crowd here supporting me is great."
The top women's seeds all advanced safely although world number one Lindsay Davenport survived an injury scare before limping to a 6-2 6-4 win over Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Fourth seed Maria Sharapova defeated Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova - the conqueror of defending champion Serena Williams - 6-4, 6-4 on a brutally hot court to set up an all-Russian quarter-final with Nadia Petrova.
Baghdatis racked up 63 clean winners in a stunning display that blunted Roddick's powerful serve. The Cypriot even outserved the American, slamming 16 aces to Roddick's 15.
Baghdatis is now through to his first grand slam quarter-final and growing in confidence. He plays seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic after the Croatian toppled Sweden's former Open champion Thomas Johansson 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
"I didn't play that badly today," Roddick said. "I think I would have beaten most people today but let's give credit where credit's due, he played a great match."
Roddick's defeat leaves Argentina's Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian as the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the men's singles draw.
The fourth seed reached the quarter-finals for the fourth successive year with a 6-3, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Spain's Tommy Robredo. He plays Fabrice Santoro after the Frenchman known as "the magician" beat Spanish baseliner David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 to reach his first grand slam quarter-final in his 18th year on the professional circuit.
"When you start your career at 16 and your first quarter-final is arriving at 33 years old, it's a long time," Santoro said.
Ljubicic, hero of Croatia's Davis Cup victory last year, is the first man to reach the last eight without losing a set.
World number one Roger Federer and Paul-Henri Mathieu of France are also yet to drop a set and they play their fourth round matches today.
Eighth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne underlined her standing as favourite to win the women's tournament with a crushing 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Virginia Ruano Pascual. The Belgian will play Davenport tomorrow for a place in the semi-finals.
Davenport looked to be in serious trouble when she jammed her ankle on the sticky Rebound Ace courts midway through the second set.
Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champion and a semi-finalist in Melbourne last year, fought back from a break down in each set to end Hantuchova's run.
"Today was probably one of the hottest days I've ever experienced in my life. It was pretty brutal out there," Sharapova said.
