Viktor Troicki takes on Marcos Baghdatis in the Malaysian Open semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
It's been a strong season for Troicki but mainly through his performances in the slams. Amazingly enough this is his first tour semi-final since February. The second seed was far too consistent for Dmitry Tursunov in the quarters and could even afford to squander a 5-2 second set lead before eventually prevailing 6-4, 6-4.
"We both returned pretty well, that's why there were maybe more breaks than usual," Troicki explained. "My focus went down a bit maybe [at the end of the second set], but it was good to close it out in two sets. It's helping my confidence to get some wins here. I lost early in Cincinnati and at the US Open so my confidence wasn't great coming in here. Getting to another ATP semi-final helps me a lot."
Baghdatis may have needed a wildcard into this event but the former Aussie Open semi-finalist played one of his best matches for some time as he took out fourth seed Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-6(3). It's not been the best of seasons for the Cypriot but the signs suggest the next few months should be good for him.
Troicki and Baghdatis are 1-1 on the head-to-head with both matches coming last year. Troicki won the last one - 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on the indoor carpet of Moscow last autumn.
Prediction: Troicki in three.
