Baghdatis struggled with a slow court and heavy balls
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An off-form Marcos Baghdatis was knocked out of the first round of the World Indoor Tournament in Rotterdam 6-3 3-6 6-4 by Swede Robin Soderling.
The Cypriot eighth seed recovered from a poor start to level the match but lost his serve in the 12th game of the decisive set to hand Soderling victory.
"I didn't feel good on the court and I started slowly," said Baghdatis. "The court was slow and the balls heavy."
Scot Andy Murray and world number two Rafael Nadal both play on Wednesday.
Soderling now goes on to face either Fernando Verdasco or Jarkko Nieminen.
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606: DEBATE
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Despite his loss, Baghdatis, the world number 21, is determined to climb back into the world's top 10 and insists he is not too "nice" to succeed.
"Two years ago I got to the Top 10, but I couldn't stay there," said Baghdatis.
"I was young an immature then, but I'm working on more consistency.
"Nice is better, but I still have a winning mentality. My goal is to win tennis matches, if I entertain the public, that's even better."
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko cruised to a 6-3 6-3 win over Czech qualifier Jan Hernych, while David Ferrer, seeded three, also advanced with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Simone Bolelli
And Raemon Sluiter, who said he would retire when his involvement in this tournament ended, bowed out as he lost 6-1 7-6 to Michael Llodra.
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