One half of the finals is set in both the Men's Doubles and the Men's Singles at the Legg Mason Classic. Marcos Baghdatis took care of Xavier Malisse in straight sets, 6-2. 7-6 (7-4). Malisse showed some resolve and took Baghdatis to a second set tie-breaker, but ultimately was overpowered by Marcos's serve and forehand. Many expected it to be a defensive minded match and there were a fair share of rallies, but there was also plenty of winners. In the post match press conference, Baghdatis was keen to remark on how "smart" he played. In fact, I think he mentioned it at least 3 times. I am not sure if he is insecure about his intelligence or he was trying to intimidate his foe for tomorrow's match.
In the afternoon's doubles match, the Czech duo of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek beat Israeli Andy Ram and Austrian Julian Knowle in a third set super tie-break. Ram and Knowle won the first set 7-5 but the Czech duo proved overpowering in the second set and tie break. Being a top ranked singles player, it was good to see Berdych hang around to play doubles after being beaten by Malisse yesterday in singles and now he has a chance to win his second career doubles title.
The remaining semi-final matches will be between David Nalbandian and Marin Cilic in singles and Fish/Knowles and Bopanna/Quereshi in doubles. Look for Nalbandian to win his first title of the year in 3 sets and Fish/Knowles to do the same.
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