Do niedawna ósmy tenisista w rankingu ATP "Entry System" Marcos Baghdatis z Cypru rozpocznie nowy sezon u boku nowego trenera - Francuza Oliviera Soulesa, który do niedawna współpracował z francuskim zawodnikiem Nicolasem Mahutem
Jako tenisista Soules był sklasyfikowany najwyżej w rankingu ATP na 143. miejscu, w lipcu 1992 roku. Podstawowym celem jego pracy z Baghdatisem będzie wprowadzenie Cypryjczyka z powrotem do światowej czołówki, bowiem w wyniku kontuzji nadgarstka i pleców oraz kilkumiesięcznej przerwy w grze spadł w przeciągu roku z 16. na 99. miejsce.

Po ostatnim sezonie Soules i Mahut podjęli decyzję o rozstaniu, a już teraz 26-letni francuski tenisista ogłosił, że nowy sezon rozpocznie razem z Lionelem Zimblerem, byłym trenerem jego rodaka Fabrice'a Santoro.

sport.pl

http://www.atpworldtour.com/EN/MULTIMED … IDEOID=946

Marcos się zmienił !!!!

Według wstępnych diagnoz Marcos będzie musiał pauzować 2 tygodnie po kontuzji, której nabawił się w holenderskim den Bosch.

http://www.baghdatis.com/articlecategories/view/18

Według oficjalnej strony internetowej (bardzo dobrze zrobiona zresztą) Marcos w tym tygodniu zagra w challengerze w Taszkiencie i będzie to Jego ostatni turniejowy występ w tym sezonie.

DUN I LOVE napisał:

Wspaniały tydzień Cypryjczyka.

Spokojnie to tylko chalenger a tak powaznie to przykozaczył Marcos , niby małe rzeczy ( wygrana i awans rankingowy ) a cieszą , aha i wbrew zapowiedzią cypryjczyk nie kończy jeszcze sezonu , w tygodniu zagra w Sztokholmie , a pózniej kto wie moze i na Bercy jakims sposobem się złapie

Ostatnio edytowany przez Sydney (19-10-2009 16:59:35)

#1 - Pekin 2006



1R  D. Gremelmayr 46 61 76
2R  Y.-T. Wang 76 64
QF  D. Udomchoke 62 61
SF  (6)P. Srichaphan 62 36 75
W   (4)M. Ancic  64 60



#2 - Zagrzeb 2007



1R  F. Serra 62 76
2R  F. Dancevic 76 63
QF  (8)A. Clement 62 67 76
SF  (Q)A. Peya 64 63
W  (1)I. Ljubicic 76 46 64



#3 - Sztokholm 2009



1R  J.C. Ferrero 64 62
2R  R. Kendrick 62 62
QF  A. Clement 64 64
SF  (1)R.Soderling W/O
W  O. Rochus 61 75

Baghdatis Wins Third ATP World Tour Title in Stockholm; 10th Unseeded Winner In 2009

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis lifted his first ATP World Tour title since February 2007, after defeating Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-1, 7-5 at the If Stockholm Open on Sunday.

Baghdatis became the 10th unseeded winner of the ATP World Tour this year and the first since Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil won at the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad on 2 August.

World No. 66 Baghdatis earned €93,000 in prize money and won 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points, while Rochus pocketed €49,000 and 150 points.

"I played really well in the first set," said Baghdatis.  "It was important to get a good start, but then in the second set Olivier stepped it up.  I was a bit lucky to win in two sets in the end.  I wanted to win this so badly.  It was my chance to win another title and I managed to find the solution to win."

Baghdatis, who won his third ATP Challenger Tour title last week at Tashkent (d. Istomin), made a confident start in his seventh ATP World Tour final.

The 24 year old converted his third break point opportunity in the fourth game and his decisively broke in the sixth game.  He won 66 per cent of service points and hit eight aces in the 40-minute first set.

The pair exchanged service breaks at the start of the second set and again in the sixth and seventh games.   Baghdatis, who beat Rochus 7-5, 6-4 at the 2006 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, broke serve for the fifth time in the 11th game and went on to wrap up the victory in one hour and 39 minutes.

Baghdatis won 62 per cent of service points, hit 15 aces and saved four of six break points.  It was his third ATP World Tour trophy (3-4 lifetime) and first since 4 February 2007 at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors.

"It's been a long time since I won an ATP tournament," admitted Baghdatis.  "The last one was in Febuary 2007.  I'm so happy right now.  It's been a tough couple of years and this title came when I least expected it, so it's even better.

"I'll work hard in the off-season so I can start the year strong next year and try and be more consistant and play a full year.  It's been a tough last two weeks for me - I've played 10 matches and won all all of them so of course I am a bit tired now.  I'm going to rest for a few days before playing my last tournament, a Challenger in South Korea."

The former World No. 8 (21 August 2006) improved to a 23-16 match record on the year.  Rochus, 28, dropped to 3-4 in ATP World Tour finals and to 13-7 this year.  It was his first final appearance since 30 September 2007 at Mumbai (l. to Gasquet).

"My serve didn't work as well as it had done earlier in the week today," confessed Roschus.  "I had a few too many double faults and had a lower first serve pecentage, which cost me a lot.

"I came back well in the second set and there was not much in it.  If I had served a bit better I think I could have maybe taken it into a third set.  I think the serve was the difference today, but Marcos played very well. I can't complain with my week, but of course it's always disappointing to lose a final."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … Title.aspx

Marcos Baghdatis set to reclaim mantle of cult hero

THE designer stubble is there, so is the infectious smile, and the tricks with a tennis ball. Yep, Marcos Baghdatis is back.

It may be four years since the young man from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus took everyone on a merry dance right to the Australian Open final. He may have been savaged there by Roger Federer, but his cult hero status is still intact.

And it seems so is his game after a rocky 2008 season riddled with injuries that restricted him to just 12 tournaments. Last year provided much happier times for Baghdatis.

He won three events on the ITF circuit (in France, Tashkent and Canada) and then finished off the year with a win at the ATP's Stockholm tournament. That pushed him back inside the top 50 once and boosted his confidence no end.

"I wasn't playing very good after I left last year's Australian Open, but I picked things up at the end of the year winning a few Challengers and a Grand Prix," Baghdatis said.

"It was like two months ago so it's tough to keep the momentum with holidays and not practising physically a lot.

"But I feel quite fit, I'm playing good tennis and I'm confident, so I think everything will be fine. I feel great here and I'm happy coming back."

It was not all bad last year. After losing in the first round in Brisbane to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, Baghdatis made the fourth round in Melbourne, losing to 2008 Australian Open's defending champion Novak Djokovic.

He never intended to live off his 2006 exploits but everyone still remembers. At a late-afternoon practise session at the Queensland Tennis Centre, he signed giant tennis balls, autograph books and baseball caps before posing for photos with fans, who recognised him and stopped to watch.

He didn't disappoint, head-butting tennis balls, catching them on the fly on his shoe before kicking them soccer ball-like into the backcourt covers. He even showed a new trick of retrieving a ball from the court surface. He squeezes down hard with his foot on one side before releasing the pressure so the ball pops up so he can catch it on his racquet.

Baghdatis also knows his legion of Greek and Cypriot fans will not be far away.

"I'm pretty sure they will be there."

While definitely one of the characters of the men's tour, Baghdatis teamed up with one of the stalwarts of the women's in Daniela Hantuchova yesterday to play a charity doubles match with Australians Casey Dellacqua, Scott Draper and rising Queensland academy stars, Ashleigh Barty and Travis Boon.

The money raised went to the Kim Walters foundation for research into breast and ovarian cancer. The former wife of Brisbane NRL star Kevin Walters died of breast cancer at the age of 30.

It is hard to believe the svelte Hantuchova is about to embark on her 12th year on the WTA tour at the age of 26. She is ranked No 24 and for the past six years has not been outside the top 30. But she has set a goal for 2010 to get back inside the top 10, where she finished in 2007.

Helping her in that quest is former Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt coach, Darren Cahill.

And it's not just her serve and return, renowned Cahill traits, she has been concentrating on.

"I've been working on everything with him. He's been fantastic and what a privilege to be able to work with him on the court," Hantuchova said yesterday.

"I can't say enough how thankful I am for that opportunity. There's so many things he can add to my game and his experiences are just fantastic.

"I'm really enjoying every day practising with him."

As fourth seed, Hantuchova fell in the first round in Brisbane last year, the second round in Sydney and the third in Melbourne.

"We'll see what happens this year," she said.

"My preparation's been great. I've worked really hard and I'm injury free. I'm a completely different player. I really know what I want to do on the court and I'm really going for it."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sp … 5815361058

Mardy tak łatwo Bagietce meczu nie puścił....
6-4 6-7(5)7-6(5)

Wywiad po meczu II r.

Q. It was quite a celebration at the end. You're a happy lad.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, I'm happy I won. So, yeah...

Q. Talk us through it. What was going through your mind?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, in the beginning of the match I had a lot of chances to break him. I think I was the best one on the court. I didn't take any chances, and he did at 5‑4. He took the set.

In the second I was a break up again. I had the chances and I couldn't finish it. I was a bit frustrated in the beginning of the third. What I did, is say to myself that ‑‑ I'll just go on the court today and try to not miss a ball.

Then I saw he was a bit tired, so it helped me fight even more, you know. I saw a window open, so, you know, that's how it went.

Then my tennis came back. Started playing pretty good. Started playing a bit more aggressive. The serve came back in the fourth and the fifth set. I served pretty good, so I'm delighted I won.

Q. What was the emotion and the celebration?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, it was great coming back. I'm a bit tired. I had five matches in Sydney. Mentally it was tough today. I was a bit tired. Wake up and play the first match at 11:00. I'm happy I went through, and that's the most important thing. I found the solution to win.

Q. Do you think the crowd helped you turn around and fight back?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, for sure they did, like I said before. But I think the thing that helped me a lot was the reaction of Ferrer in the third set. He went a bit down, you know, and I saw that. That helped me come up a bit, and then the crowd helped me for sure.

Q. How do you feel about your first serves? Can you be better?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: For sure I can always be a bit better. The percentage is not too high. In the fourth and fifth set I think I had a pretty high percentage of serves. I won a lot of free points, and I'm really happy I came back.

Q. Can you tell us what they say when they sing in the crowd?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: A lot of things: Marcos, I love you. I will never stop singing for you. Stuff like this.

Q. Was it like 2006 all over again here?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No. I think every year I come here I play good. It's not ‑‑ maybe in 2006 I played finals, but I think every year I come here I feel good and I play good. It's like every year.

Q. Are you the fittest you've been?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yes.

Q. The cramping at the end, did you have any concerns with the new rule with cramping that you may have to pull out?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No, because I was 5‑1 up. I said, Okay, I finish this game and I'll have one minute thirty to rest, and then the cramps would go away. That's what I thought. So I went fast and served.

But the last three, four points the cramps went away, so everything was okay.

Q. You might play Lleyton again. How do you feel about that?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't want to talk about that. You know, I'm very happy I won today. I'll just, you know, don't think about Lleyton for today. I'll start thinking about him tomorrow and the day after. I have time.

Today I just want to enjoy my victory and think about what ‑‑ all the positive things out from this match.

Q. The last match that you played against him here, how does that sit in your mind?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: You know, I forgot about it. It's nothing. There's so many matches in your career that you don't ‑‑ I mean, I remember the match, but you don't focus on one match.

So, you know, it's a match that maybe I played and finished 4:45 in the morning. But it's a great match. I'm not thinking about it every night before going to sleep, you know.

Q. Big game today. What physically do you need to do to get your body right now?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Trust my physio. I think he'll work on my body and I will be 100% ready for Lleyton's match.

Q. Getting back to the fitness level, have you been doing anything extra?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, worked a bit differently, more in the gym than before. Basically, that's all.

Q. You said he got tired in the third set. Did that surprise you given that he's regarded as one of the fittest players?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, you can be fit, but the heat, you never know. It was 32 degrees out there. You never know how your body reacts to it. You have to be fit, but you have to play a lot in those conditions and get matches in those conditions.

I don't know if he did get so many matches in these conditions. It's always tough coming here because of the heat.

Q. You talked about the night match you played. There's been a bit of talk about the night match last night, Tomic and Cilic, a 17 year old. He said early this morning that he felt it was wrong to have him scheduled at that time. What are your thoughts on that?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: My thoughts are that's the way it is. We have to deal with it. We don't have to find excuses, we have to find a way to win every match we play, even if it's in tough conditions. That's all.

Q. Do you have a preference, day or night Saturday for you?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't mind.

Q. 10:00 at night start?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I would prefer a bit earlier, but I don't mind.

Q. Why do you think it is that you seem to be especially energized by this part of the year? I know it's the start of the new year, but you more than anyone seem to find something special at this time of the year.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Because I'm fully fit. I think I'm mentally fresh. That's what I learned the last couple of years. That's what I will try to do this year: Stay fresh mentally during the whole year like I am here. If I do that, I think I'll play great tennis. Stay mentally fresh and keep motivating myself every day.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 72531.html