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| Birth Name(s) : Marcos Baghdatis |
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Full Marcos Baghdatis Biography
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, pronounced ) born 17 June 1985, Limassol, Cyprus) is a Cypriot professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships. As of August 13, 2007, he is ranked No. 18 on the ATP rankings.
Baghdatis began playing tennis at age five with his father and brothers. He enjoys playing and watching football (soccer), and is a supporter of Apollon Limassol in Cyprus. He trained at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris on an Olympic Solidarity Youth Development Programme Scholarship since the age of 13 and learned to speak French. He attended the Grammar School in Limassol. His family was the first to own a house with a tennis court in Limassol.
Baghdatis became the ITF World Junior Tennis Champion in 2003 and joined the ATP professional tour later that year.
At the U.S. Open, Baghdatis played for the first time in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. He defeated Olivier Mutis in a first round match 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5. He was one of only two players who won a set from eventual champion Roger Federer (the other being Andre Agassi). Baghdatis then finished the year with two challenger tournament titles, in which he defeated many higher ranked opponents.
Baghdatis suffered an elbow injury right after the Australian Open and was out of the professional tour until late April, when he entered a clay court tournament, the Estoril Open in Portugal. He held two match points in his first-round match against a resurging Juan Carlos Ferrero, but failed to convert them into a win.
Baghdatis kept playing challengers and qualifying for upper-tier ATP events for the rest of 2005 and found good form towards the end of the year. As a qualifier, he reached the final of the ATP tournament at Basel, defeating former world number 2 Tommy Haas, world number 40 Jose Acasuso, and the would-be 2005 Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian. But he lost the final to Chilean Fernando González 6-7(10), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. Although he was not the first qualifier to reach an ATP tour event final, he was the first player from Cyprus to do so.
Baghdatis entered the Australian Open as an unseeded player and produced an unexpected four-set (6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4) victory over second-seed and world number three Andy Roddick of the United States in the fourth round. He then defeated the seventh-seed Croat Ivan Ljubičić in a quarterfinal 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, and in a semifinal, he came back from two sets down to defeat the fourth-seed Argentine David Nalbandian 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The vocal support he enjoyed from his local fans (consisting mostly of members of Melbourne's large Greek Australian community) throughout the tournament was considered one of the highlights of the tournament. In the final, Baghdatis started strongly but eventually lost to world number 1 Roger Federer 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.
At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round to Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4.
At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-2. Baghdatis then lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals 6-1, 7-5, 6-3.
At the U.S. Open, Baghdatis defeated Alexander Waske of Germany in the first round 7-6(1), 7-6(7), 6-3. He played retiring U.S. player Andre Agassi in the second round, and in a long match that lasted past midnight, Baghdatis lost 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5. Although Agassi seemed to be cruising early in the fourth set, Baghdatis rallied from down 4-0 to take the set. He overcame cramping in the fifth set, trying to push the set into a tiebreaker, but Agassi broke his serve in the last game.
Baghdatis was the eleventh seed at the Australian Open but could not match his success from the previous year, losing a second round match to Gael Monfils 7-6(5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
At the first grass court tournament of the season in Halle, Baghdatis reached his sixth career singles final by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semifinals 7-6(1), 6-4. In the final, which took place on his birthday, he lost to Czech Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4.
At the U.S. Open, Baghdatis was defeated by #106 ranked Max Mirnyi, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-7. Baghdatis had a 1-5 lead in the last set tiebreaker but lost it 8-6.
Baghdatis's playing style is relaxed and smooth. His main strength is a powerful forehand and a natural talent for placement. He can make accurate and powerful down-the-line forehands and cross-court forehands on the run and often patiently constructs points to get in a position from where he can make outright winners with those shots. He also has one of the best backhands in the game, especially his two-handed backhand down the line. Baghdatis is noted for often playing high-risk tennis, attempting difficult shots which, depending on their execution, can pay off big or backfire. Unfortunately, these difficult shots have sometimes resulted in self-destructive losses.
Grand Slam Win-Loss1-13-413-48-4N/A25-13Indian Wells MastersAAQF2R0 / 23-2Miami MastersAA3R2R0 / 21-2Monte Carlo MastersAAA1R0 / 10-1Rome MastersAA2R3R0 / 23-2Hamburg MastersAA1R1R0 / 20-2Canada MastersAA1R3R0 / 22-2Cincinnati MastersAA3R3R0 / 24-2Madrid MastersAA2R2R0 / 21-2Paris MastersAAA0 / 00-0Tennis Masters CupAAA0 / 00-0 |
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