Marcos Baghdatis (photo) pulled out some old magic to beat former No. 1 Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 yesterday at the Australian Open, evoking memories of his run to the 2006 final.

The marquee matchup of the night was packed with drama – long rallies, improbable winners and shifts in momentum.

Baghdatis appeared to be on his way to a straight-sets victory, looked down and out, then pulled himself together to set up a third-round meeting with another former No. 1, Lleyton Hewitt.

The mercurial Safin, the 2005 champion who has slipped to No. 56 on a rash of injuries, tossed his racket twice in frustration while falling behind, then broke it after dropping serve early in the fifth set.

Both Safin and Baghdatis took tumbles on the court, with Safin making a lunging layout to pick off a passing shot for a winner and Baghdatis awkwardly doing the splits when he slipped on the dead run.

The 15th-seeded Baghdatis is a Greek Cypriot who rallied time and time again two years ago, feeding off the energy from vocal fans from Melbourne’s large Greek community, before he lost the final to Roger Federer.

His beard and ponytail are gone, but the support was there again, and Baghdatis hungrily fed off it.

Sharp in taking the first two sets, Baghdatis slipped just a little at the same time that Safin picked up his game. Then Safin lost a little concentration, and Baghdatis seized the opening.

“He was just playing unbelievable,” Baghdatis said. “He was hitting the lines. When I sat down at the end of the fourth set, I said to myself that I have to start serving big because I wanted to win easy with free points on my of serve, and that’s what I did.”

Baghdatis pulled ahead 3-0 in the fifth set and never yielded the advantage despite constant pressure. He finished off the victory in 3 hours, 13 minutes by breaking for the fifth time when Safin sent a forehand long on match point.

Despite the loss, Safin was encouraged that he played well and appears to be ready to rejoin the sport’s elite.