Andy Roddick was left searching for answers after his shock 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss on Sunday to unseeded Marcos Baghdatis in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The world number two had been an overwhelming favourite to beat Baghdatis but couldn't counter the Cypriot's impressive shot-making.
"I didn't play that badly," Roddick told a news conference.
"I think I would have beaten most people today but let's give credit where credit's due. I thought he played a very good match."
Outrageous shot-making may have helped Marcos Baghdatis set up the biggest win of his career but the Cypriot showman said it was icy nerves that finished the job.
"I lost some matches before when I was up 5-4 serving for the match and lost the match," he said at a news conference after the stunning win.
"I knew that it was very important to serve well and try not to get excited and make stupid mistakes," the former world number one junior said.
Baghdatis, who reached the fourth round in Melbourne last year as a qualifier, said he wanted to use the same combination of flamboyant shot-making and cool thinking in the quarter-finals.
"First of all it's not finished," the 20-year-old right-hander said.
"I have to calm down and go back, stay in the tournament and try to go even further," he said.
LOOKING AHEAD
Roddick actually won one more point that Baghdatis over the course of the match and won a higher percentage of points on his first serve, his greatest strength.
But the Texan could only manage 39 clean winners to his opponent's 63.
"If you look at his stats, they're pretty impressive. The shots he was able to come up with were very, very good," Roddick said.
"I just thought maybe I was a little bit spacy out there. Maybe I just wasn't totally on top of things.
"A lot of times I was in control of the point, and he came up with the goods. A couple times I was sloppy at the wrong moments."
Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003 but hasn't won a Grand Slam since the emergence of Roger Federer and said it's getting tougher all the time.
"There are no unanswered questions in my eyes as far as preparation and stuff like that. So you're kind of left searching a little bit. That's an uneasy feeling," he said.
"There's a lot of good players out there. There's one guy (Federer) who has set himself apart, and the rest of men's tennis is very deep where anybody can beat anybody on a given day.
"It's always tough but the good thing about tennis is there's always next week. It's not like we're an Olympic sport where we have to wait another four years."
FANS WIN MATCHES
Baghdatis played his first grand slam event as a qualifier at the 2004 U.S. Open and reached the second round but after his unexpected run in Melbourne last year he was beaten in the first round at the year's other three Grand Slam events. The reason for his success in Melbourne was simple, he said.
"Fans," said Baghdatis, who claims to have 21 cousins in Australia. "I think it's great for tennis, great for me," he added. "I love it playing in front of them."
He said the win would probably also spark wild celebrations in Cyprus, where he first picked up a racket aged four and where his tennis-fan father encouraged him to keep playing.
"All the people in Cyprus are down in the fountains and celebrating, so it's fun. I wish I was there," he said.
Baghdatis, named "Man of the Year" in Cyprus after reaching the fourth round last year, left his Limassol home at 14 for the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris.
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