Photo: Nikki Boertman
Marcos’ campaign at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic came to an end at the quarter-final stage on Friday as he was beaten by American Donald Young 6-3, 7-6(4).
After playing two three-set matches on Thursday to book his place in the last eight, Marcos suffered a jaded start against Young and was broken to love in the fourth game. Although Marcos lifted his game and established himself better on serve, his opponent’s level did not drop and it was the American who clinched the opener.
Marcos made a much better start to the second set, reining in his unforced errors and reaping the benefits as he went up 3-0. However, the 22-year-old Young, on a mission to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final reeled off four straight games to take command of the set.
A tight service game from Young allowed Marcos to hit back immediately, and he subsequently had three chances in the 12th game to win the second set, but was denied on each one by Young, who forced the set to a tie-break. It was to be a tie-break Marcos could never quite take control of, falling behind from the first ball and struggling to wrest the momentum from his opponent as Young went on to seal victory in 87 minutes.
“It’s not an excuse, but for sure, playing six sets yesterday was a tough day,” said Marcos. “I wasn’t 100 per cent ready today. He played smart. He knew that I was a bit tired. ... My hands were a bit tight. I couldn’t just hit the ball the way I was hitting it yesterday. You never know. He’s a young kid. Maybe mentally he would give up a bit, just put his head down. But he didn’t give up.”
Marcos will move on now to the Rogers Cup, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal, Canada, where he has been drawn to face in-form American John Isner in the first round.
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