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Baghdatis determined to focus on Hewitt match

MELBOURNE
Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:25am EST
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus hits a shot to Russia's Marat Safin at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 17, 2008. Baghdatis will be keen to forget his off-court problems when he faces hometown favorite Lleyton Hewitt in a sell out match at the Australian Open on Saturday. REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis will be keen to forget his off-court problems when he faces hometown favorite Lleyton Hewitt in a sell out match at the Australian Open on Saturday.

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The 15th-seed's joy at pulling off a five-set victory over 2005 champion Marat Safin in the previous round was shortlived after he was criticized for chanting anti-Turkish slogans at a party, which were seen in a video posted on the YouTube Web site.

"There has been a lot of coverage of me appearing in a video (from 2007) on youtube.com," Baghdatis said in a statement on Friday.

"Now I would like to concentrate on the tournament and ask everyone to respect that."

Hewitt will want to gain revenge after being beaten in their only previous meeting, at Wimbledon in 2006.

World number one Roger Federer will seek to continue his journey towards a fourth men's title when he faces Janko Tipsarevic.

Tipsarevic's Serbian compatriot, third seed Novak Djokovic, will be up against American Sam Querrey.

In the woman's draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams will be aiming to overcome potentially tricky opponents.

Williams will take on Indian 31st seed Sania Mirza while second seed Kuznetsova meets rising Polish talent Agnieszka Radwanska.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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