Cypriot Baghdatis stuns Roddick

Cypriot showman Marcos Baghdatis toppled second seed Andy Roddick [Images] 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.

Baghdatis, the 54th ranked player in the world, scored easily the biggest win of his career with a flamboyant display of shot-making, trying to hit clean winners at every opportunity as he scrambled desperately around court.

"I think it's one of my best matches in my life. I'm just in my own world and playing my best tennis and having the crowd here supporting me is great," he said.

Baghdatis, cheered wildly by fans from Melbourne's large Greek community, grew in confidence against an out-of-sorts Roddick, who muttered and berated himself during an error-prone performance on Melbourne Park's Rod Laver Arena.

After wrapping up the stunning upset, the former world junior champion raced to salute his flag-waving fans as well as his coach Guillaume Payre, girlfriend and several family members in the players box.

Baghdatis showed little sign of being overawed by Roddick and matched the 2003 US Open champion from the outset, securing the first service break when Roddick pushed a forehand long and going on to claim the first set.

Roddick, a semi-finalist last year, responded by racing to a 5-0 lead in the second set with two breaks of serve.

But Baghdatis regained the initiative and took the next set, breaking Roddick in the sixth game on another forehand error by the American.

Roddick served a double fault to hand his opponent a crucial break in the fifth game of the fourth set, sending the Cypriot's fans wild.

Baghdatis, who also reached the fourth round last year before losing to world number one Roger Federer [Images], secured his first appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final by rifling a cross-court forehand past Roddick on his first match point.

Baghdatis said he doubted he would watch the match later on Sunday between seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic and 2002 champion Thomas Johansson that will determine who he plays next.

"I think my coach will watch and I'll be sleeping with my girlfriend," he told a television interview after the match.

© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.