Beaten Baghdatis plagued by doubts

Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis was utterly disconsolate after suffering a surprise second round defeat at the French Open

Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis was utterly disconsolate after suffering a surprise second round defeat at the French Open on Thursday.

Five months ago in Melbourne, Baghdatis was hailed as a national hero when he became the first player from Cyprus to reach a Grand Slam final. And because of this showing in January, Baghdatis was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, at No. 19.

On Thursday, in the damp and cold at Roland Garros, the usually bright-eyed 20-year-old was inconsolable after losing to Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.

8220;It8217;s been tough for me after Australia, a lot of questions in my head, a lot of doubts,8221; said Baghdatis.

Baghdatis trains in Paris and admitted he was struggling to deal with the new level of expectations since his exploits in Australia, when he lost in the final to Roger Federer.

Injury and illness have played their part in disrupting his progress since then but Baghdatis said the biggest problems were in his head.

8220;Every time I go into a tournament, I feel good physically, tennistically. It8217;s just mentally I have some doubts in my head.8217;8217;

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Baghdatis saved two match points in the fourth set to force a decider against world No.95 Benneteau, but it only delayed defeat.

8220;At 2-5 in the fourth set, I started playing a bit. In the fifth set at 2-2 I8217;m not sure what happened. I8217;m not really in the match. I8217;m not looking at the ball. I8217;m thinking about what people think, what people will say. I don8217;t feel at ease.8221;

Ancic and Capdeville fined after spat

Paris: After Marat Safin was slapped with a 10,000 fine the highest at this year8217;s Open for refusing to attend a press conference after his first-round defeat by Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, Croatian Mario Ancic and Chile8217;s Paul Capdeville came in second on the roster. The duo were fined 3,000 each on Thursday for a spat at the end of their second round match. The pair pushed and shoved each other on Wednesday after Ancic won, and umpire Roland Herfel had to step in to break it up. 8220;I never have a problem with Ancic. I have problem with the umpire because in the points so important, he make mistakes,8221; Capdeville said.