Fourth seed Melzer made a fine start to his Malaysian Open campaign, destroying Rik De Voest 6-0, 6-4 in just over an hour.
"I started really well," Melzer said. "The first set was one of the best sets I’ve played all year for sure. I’m feeling really good here, hopefully it can continue. The conditions are very slow but if you have enough power it can give you a little more time to set up for your shots and go for some winners, which is nice for my game."
However while he's been enjoying plenty of doubles success, winning the US Open title earlier this month, Melzer has not won back to back singles matches since July and he'll have a tough ask against a resurgent Baghdatis.
The Cypriot won a potentially tricky encounter with Somdev Devvarman 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday and was relieved to progress without dropping a set.
"I started okay, but I was a bit impatient at 3-3 in first set when he broke my serve," Baghdatis commented. "I tried to just keep ball in court, stay in the points for longer and I managed to break him twice to take the first set. It's tough conditions here, very slow and you have to work the point and just find a way to win. I'm looking forward to the next one and trying to find the solution to win."
Melzer and Baghdatis have played just once before, Melzer leading 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-1, 4-3 at the Aussie Open when Baghdatis had to retire.
