Wywiad po przegranym spotkaniu 3 rundy AO:

An interview with:
MARCOS BAGHDATIS

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was the nature of the injury?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: We don't know yet. I just felt some pain in the shoulder. Felt a bit yesterday on the serve, a bit today, and in the match I just couldn't, you know, hit the forehand. I couldn't control the ball. I was pushing the ball.

Basically, against Hewitt, it's tough to...

Q. So you were aware of it yesterday but thought you could get over it?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, I wasn't worried about it at all. I wasn't thinking about it because I wasn't worried. I had a bit of pain, but nothing. I'm usual to pain, having a little bit of pain everywhere.

But I didn't think that it would be this painful and this bothering during the match.

Q. How did you feel during the warm‑up?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I was okay. Yeah, when I warmed up I was okay. Like I said, I felt it a bit on the serve and forehand, but I wasn't too worried. We had a massage before the match. I thought it was a bit tense, but I guess not.

They say it's the tendon of the biceps, so I'll have an MRI tomorrow and see how that goes.

Q. You didn't get it playing beach cricket, did you?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't think so, mate.

Q. Was there a point in the match where you particularly...

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No. The whole match ‑‑ from the beginning, I mean, I wasn't serving over 200 kilometers per hour. I wasn't serving. I was feeling the pain when I wanted to hit the ball on the impact. You know, when you do that, then you stop moving, you stop ‑‑ everything goes wrong because you're just thinking about the pain and not the forehand and the serve.

Q. What did Lleyton say to you after the match?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No, I mean, nothing. He said he's sorry. He wishes luck for me. That's all. Nice like always.

Q. What did you make of the way Lleyton was playing? A noticeable improvement from the last match?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know, mate. I was on me and feeling the pain. I wasn't looking Lleyton. I don't want to talk about Lleyton.

Q. How do you rate his chances against Roger?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know. I don't want talk about that. Sorry.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 17562.html

RG 2010 - wywiad z Bagietą po zwycięstwie w 2 rundzie

Q. Could you give us an impression of your form?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I'm feeling pretty good. I'm playing solid. I could say I'm playing very smart on court and just finding solutions to win. I guess that's the most important thing, you know.
I'm perfect physically. I have no injuries. I feel fit. I feel that I can last, so that makes things a bit easier.

Q. You played earlier in the week on these courts and they were hot and pretty fast. How did the rain affect the conditions of the courts today?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: For sure, yeah, the courts are a bit heavier than in the beginning of the week. Balls are heavier. But I think it could be an advantage for me, because I can hit the ball pretty hard.
You know, I have more control that way. I can you know, the ball doesn't bounce so much. So, you know, I felt good in the first match. Felt good yesterday. Felt good today. So I have no problems.

Q. They were in good shape despite the rain delays?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, very good.

Q. Do you think having someone like the coach you have at the moment, who is someone that's spent a lot of time coaching people, on clay especially, is beneficial to you at this period for you?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: For sure. Not only because of the clay, but for from the time I started working with him, you know, he gives me basically a lot of solutions. That's very important. So he's a very smart guy. Very passionate. He believes in me.
I think he's done a great job with me, and also with the whole team. You know, he brought the whole team around me. He built a whole team around me that are working for me. They're all good in what they do, so that's really important.

Q. Would it be possible to say that perhaps from 2006 when you had that wonderful year you now feel as though you're in very good position to be a challenger in Grand Slams, probably the best since then?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, I think the last two years I suffered a bit with injuries, and, you know, with mind problems. I can say helped me mature a bit, and, you know, have more experience.
I think I'm tougher than what I was before. I'm ready for any problem. I'm ready to find any solution. So I guess, yeah, I am. I'm tougher than before.

Q. And there is an opportunity that you might play Murray in the we don't know, of course, because we keep coming off and going back on would that be a match you would relish and look forward to, especially on clay?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: For sure. It's nice to play against opponents that it will be a great fight. You know, Andy is a great player. Not only a great player, but great fighter on court. He can last, so I'm looking forward to playing a great match with him.
First of all, he has to win, you know. Then I'm not gonna think about it tonight. I won a match. I don't know if I'm playing tomorrow. I'll relax for tonight and see how things go tomorrow.
THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Do you know if you're going to play Davis Cup?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No. You asked me the same question in Miami, and I said I will know during Wimbledon, after Wimbledon. I will know after Wimbledon. It all depends how people play at Wimbledon.

Q. But would you like to play on clay after Wimbledon?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know. It all depends on my results after Wimbledon. You'll wait for Wimbledon?

Q. Yes, I will.

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/ … 54250.html

Healthy and Hungry Again After Three Lost Summers

One of the many revelations in Andre Agassi’s autobiography, “Open,” involved Marcos Baghdatis, who is re-emerging as a force after his career went into free fall following his runner-up finish in the 2006 Australian Open.

“He smiles when he’s happy or nervous,” Agassi wrote of Baghdatis, “and you can never tell which.”

In the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters, Baghdatis flashed a wide grin after squandering a second match point against Rafael Nadal. That time, he was definitely nervous.

“When you are up, 40-0, serving for the match against Rafa, you start thinking a bit,” Baghdatis said last week in New Haven, where he was the top seed at the Pilot Pen and was later eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sergiy Stakhovsky. “The crowd is going wild. Everything starts spinning.”

Baghdatis recovered, won the next point and the match, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, but he had good reason for his jitters. Once a bright young star in the sport, Baghdatis had spent the previous three years plagued by injuries and inconsistent play. His ranking, which had climbed to No. 8 in August 2006, plummeted to 151st last summer. His apparel sponsorship with Adidas was not renewed.

“I was down and wasn’t feeling good, but I don’t think I was worried about not coming back,” Baghdatis said. “I always had the feeling deep inside me that I could come back.”

His victory over Nadal capped a tremendous stretch for Baghdatis.

Despite losing in the semifinals to the eventual champion, Roger Federer, Baghdatis was brilliant in the Cincinnati Masters, defeating the Australian Open semifinalist Marin Cilic, the dangerous Brazilian left-hander Thomaz Bellucci and the Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych. Coupled with a run this month to the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, Baghdatis, ranked 18th as of Aug. 23, is suddenly a contender at the United States Open.

It is quite a comeback for Baghdatis, 25, who first charmed fans during an improbable run at the 2006 Australian Open. It is also a stark contrast to last summer.

Because of his low ranking, Baghdatis entered ATP Challenger Tour events, tennis’s minor leagues. The draws include an odd mix of journeymen, rookies, rehabilitating veterans and local favorites, and the events are held in sites like Astana in Kazakhstan and Binghamton, N.Y. The prize money was minimal, but Baghdatis craved the matches.

“Last year, if I played two matches in a row, I felt sore,” he said. “So I said to myself, ‘Maybe go play some Challengers because if you win, you get five days in a row of tennis.’”

Baghdatis won Challenger events in Vancouver, British Columbia; St.-Rémy-de-Provence, France; and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In October, he captured the Stockholm Open for his first ATP Tour title since February 2007. He also started 2010 strong. In January, he won the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia. Two months later at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., he defeated Federer, who was ranked No. 1 at the time.

“I’m surprised it’s taken this long,” the ESPN tennis analyst Brad Gilbert said of Baghdatis’s return to form. “He’s a great ball striker and too talented of a player. After what he did in 2006, I thought he was going to be in the top five.”

Baghdatis grew up in Limassol, Cyprus. His mother, Andry, a Greek Cypriot, ran the family clothing store while his father, Christos, a Lebanese immigrant, oversaw the development of Baghdatis’s tennis career.

At 13, Baghdatis moved to the suburbs of Paris to attend the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. He was the 2003 International Tennis Federation junior champion, but his big breakthrough came in Melbourne in 2006. Baghdatis defeated three top-10 seeds — No. 2 Andy Roddick, No. 7 Ivan Ljubicic and No. 4 David Nalbandian — before meeting Federer in the final. In front of a rowdy crowd of Cypriot and Greek supporters, Baghdatis won the first set and was up a break in the second before losing, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2. The defeat haunted him.

“For two, three years afterward, I had nights where I thought about that match,” Baghdatis said.

The next few years were filled with injuries. In 2008, Baghdatis sustained a high ankle sprain and a stress fracture in his right wrist. At a tournament in Metz, France, he crumpled to the court with a back spasm and was carried off on a stretcher.

The injuries halted Baghdatis’s training, and his fitness became an issue. But after finally regaining his health, Baghdatis resolved to live up to the promise he showed in 2006.

“When you grow up, you get more mature and you know what you want,” Baghdatis said. “I felt really hungry. I wanted to come back so much.”

He spent last off-season training vigorously in Buenos Aires, Paris and Cyprus.

“I didn’t work as much on tennis,” he said. “I worked more on physical conditioning to get stronger.”

He said it was the only way he could compete with big hitters like Berdych, the French Open finalist Robin Soderling and the United States Open champion Juan Martín del Potro, not to mention Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. “I am not as tall as them, not as big as them and not as strong as them, but I have my weapons,” said Baghdatis, whose strengths include fearless shot-making, a big first serve and aggressiveness.

Baghdatis has not advanced past the second round at the Open, but he is well known in Flushing Meadows for an epic match with Agassi in 2006. Riddled with cramps, Baghdatis lost in a brutal fifth set. It was the last victory of Agassi’s career.

Baghdatis missed last year’s Open and has few points to defend this fall, so he should continue moving up the rankings. Maybe that is what it will take for the sponsors to return. For now, an image of the flag of Cyprus is the only logo on his T-shirt and bandanna.

“I am proud of being Cypriot, so that’s why I put my country’s flag on my T-shirt,” Baghdatis said. “It’s not a sponsorship. I don’t have a contract and am waiting for sponsors to sign me. I am open to any negotiations.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/sport … ref=sports

Koniec sezonu dla Baghdatisa (Kontuzja barku)

http://www.tennisnow.com/News/Marcos-Ba … eason.aspx

Baghdatis rezygnuje

Kontuzja barku wykluczyła Marcosa Baghdatisa z udziału w turniejach w Bazylei i w Paryżu. Tym samym 25-letni Cypryjczyk przedwczesnie zakończył swoje starty w tym sezonie.

Tenisista podał tę informację na swoim twitterze.

“Bardzo mi przykro, żenie zagram w Bazylei. W tym momencie sezon 2010 jest dla mnie zakończony, gdyż nie będę uczestniczył także w turnieju w Paryżu. Uraz barku jest naprawdę dokuczliwy” – napisał w swoim komunikacie Marcos Baghdatis.

Cypryjczyk rozegrał w tym sezonie 70- spotkań, z czego w 43 zwyciężał. Rok rozpcozął efektownie od wygrania turnieju ATP w Sydney. Następnie pokonał Rogera Federera w Indian Wells, w Cincinnati zaś okazał się lepszy od rafaela Nadala. Finalista Australian Open 2006 zanotował także 2 finały: w Waszyngtonie i Moskwie, przgrywając odpowiednio z Davidem Nalbandianem i Victorem Troickim.

Baghdatis wróci do gry w Abu Dhabi. Sezon 2011 rozpocznie od pokazowego turnieju Mubadala Community Cup.

http://www.tenis.net.pl/baghdatis-rezygnuje/10130

2010 w liczbach

Ranking: 20
Tytuły: 1 (Sydney)
Finały: 2 (Waszyngton, Moskwa)
Bilans meczów: 43-27
Zarobki: $941,345

Baghdatis drops weight ahead of new season

Marcos Baghdatis has lost about 10 pounds as a result of an offseason fitness regime that has included mountain biking, gym work and careful eating.

"He drank lots of water, avoided the fatty acids... Everything is steamed or grilled and the portions are the correct portions," Baghdatis' trainer Andreas Nicolaou was quoted saying on the ATP website. "The main thing is to be stable and stay on that number of 10 percent body fat."

After ending his season early because of a shoulder injury, Baghdatis eased back into a routine, spending two weeks on endurance training and two weeks doing exercises and working on the practice court.

As a measure of Baghdatis' improvement, Nicolaou noted, "He was running 10 metres in 1.7 seconds, now he can do it 1.6 seconds... He used to struggle with 100 kg on the bench press, we can now increase it to 130 kg."

Baghdatis ended the season ranked No. 20, contiuning his long road back after falling to No. 100 during an injury-plagued season in 2008. He reached as high as No. 8 in 2006 after making the Australian Open final that year.

http://www.tennis.com/articles/template … &zoneid=25

BACK TO BASICS
DEUCE


At a crossroads: 25-year-old Marcos Baghdatis is dreaming of a Top 10 future again.

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, one of the game’s great ball-strikers, has rededicated himself to the sport and is dreaming big again.

Eight years ago Eurosport, the pan-European sports channel, shadowed Marcos Baghdatis during a year of transition, starting with his Australian Open junior triumph to his first tentative steps on the ATP Challenger Tour and Orange Bowl success, via Patrick Mouratoglou’s tennis academy in Paris.

Baghdatis, like the sport he loves so dearly, has naturally evolved over the years. His spirit may have taken a hit after a series of ankle, back, respiratory, rib and wrist problems following his Annus mirabilis of 2006, but it is testament to the Cypriot’s character and Mediterranean weather that his weary bones and mind are revitalised.

"Winning a Grand Slam is the greatest thing, but I also want to be Top 10 again."

The agile, gifted entertainer, whose killer smile is always close to the surface, has nurtured the fire that burns so brightly in his bottomless brown eyes. As an ebullient character, who radiates immense enjoyment and draws spectators into his matches with his unstinting effort, the youthful enthusiasm of the wide-eyed junior at the dawn of his senior career remains.

“I think even after all the injuries I’ve had, I believe I love the sport even more,” reflects Baghdatis, whose life and career have been far from ordinary. “Winning a Grand Slam is the greatest thing, but I also want to be Top 10 again. That is what I am working towards.”

Baghdatis was, effectively, “born on a tennis court”. His Tripoli-born father, Christos, took to the sport in his mid-30s on the advice of his physio that tennis would not aggravate old injuries. “Marcos is right in that he was born on a tennis court. From the age of 18 months, Marcos spent hour-after-hour on-court as my elder sons, Marinos and Petros, played tournaments.”

His childhood was a “lost paradise”, spent among a close-knit working class family. He had followed in the footsteps of his brothers by playing at the Famagusta and Sporting Tennis Clubs, and taken part in beach football matches every Sunday. But that innocence ended at the age of 11 when his older brother Marinos, the top player in Cyprus, who Marcos considered a hero, suffered a serious car accident. Marinos stayed in hospital for one year.

By this stage, Christos Baghdatis had already recognised his younger son’s burgeoning talent. “His enthusiasm and will was so great, [but] Marcos did not play tennis for two years, not because of Marinos’ car accident, but because there were no suitable coaches in Cyprus to train him.”

When Baghdatis returned to the sport, he once again showcased the appetite and aptitude to become a tennis champion. Patrick Mouratoglou, a French coach, first watched the 13-and-a-half-year-old Baghdatis at “Les Petits As” in Tarbes.

"The decision to send Marcos to Paris was very hard... You can imagine how hard it was."

Mouratoglou, who currently coaches Aravane Rezai and Laura Robson, remembers, “I immediately fell in love when I watched him. I saw someone different from the others. He was putting a lot of emotion on the court. I liked his game. The main thing was that I felt this young kid had a personality to go far in the men’s game.

“I met Christos during this tournament [in Tarbes] and they later came to my academy to talk about the future. Christos was very lucid and very ambitious for his son. He knew that staying in Limassol meant there was no chance of becoming a professional tennis player. He wanted Marcos to have a good chance of succeeding.”

Baghdatis visited Mouratoglou’s academy on a one-week trial in October 1999. Talks continued, but a decision needed to be made. Christos and Marcos’ mother, Andry, discussed the possibility of their youngest son moving from Paramytha to another country. “The decision to send Marcos to Paris was very hard,” explains Christos. “My wife and I spent weeks and months talking it through. You can imagine how hard it was.”

Care-free Baghdatis arrived in Paris out of condition, alone and with no knowledge of the language. “He was not an athlete at all,” recalls Mouratoglou. “I remember having him do some physical tests. Afterwards, the specialist said to me, ‘Sorry but this kid will never be a professional sportsman.’ I didn’t believe it. I thought that he would work and build his body for tennis.”

For Baghdatis, who had always been surrounded by his family, it was another life-defining moment. “When I left for Paris my family still had a big influence on me,” says Baghdatis. “It’s how my life was. I became the person I am from the way I grew up, from the things I learnt in life.” By day, he revelled in playing tennis. At night, he dreamt of life back in Cyprus.

“It’s been stated that he begged me for a return to Cyprus, but he didn’t,” says Christos Baghdatis. “I would ring him at 7 a.m. each day and he said everything was okay.”

Mouratoglou adds, “I knew that Marcos had trouble getting used to life in Paris. Seeing that he was sad, I worried and called his father. ‘Christos, your son is very sad. He is having trouble getting used to his new type of life. Maybe, this life isn’t for him.’

“’Don’t worry,’ Christos answered. ‘He’s going to get used to it,’ without any doubt in the voice. I decided to trust him and waited to see how Marcos would be a few months later. His father was right, finally he started to understand French, have friends, and get used to his new life.”

Christos and Andry Baghdatis later found out that Marcos had cried every night for the first three months of his new life. “No one in the family he stayed with had told me,” says Christos. “I have been portrayed as a hard father, but it is far from the truth. I wanted what was best for Marcos.

"Over the years he had been a father-figure to his family, looking after them."

“We were taking a huge risk, sending Marcos to a new family. At times I thought it was a big mistake. Unfortunately Cyprus could not provide him with a platform to develop as an aspiring professional player. We took a big risk, but it paid off. I would not do it again.”

It would be 10 years before Baghdatis returned to Cyprus to train full-time. It was time to return to his spiritual home. "Over the years he had been a father-figure to his family, looking after them," admits his coach Guillaume Peyre. In October 2009, he arrived in Limassol for a fresh start. "Psychologically, I was a long way from home," says Baghdatis.

Last season, Baghdatis found himself at a crossroads. More than three years had passed since his fairytale run to the 2006 Australian Open final and a career-high No. 8 world ranking. His last run to a major quarter-final came in 2007 at Wimbledon. He was determined to make a positive change.

“I was not happy with my performances at Grand Slams, but if I am honest I wasn’t really preparing for Grand Slam play,” he says. “I didn’t think of preparing for the majors, for me it was about winning points, playing as many matches as I could.”

It was one of the reasons why he re-appointed his former coach Guillaume Peyre. “When I was younger we learned a lot about tennis together and even when we parted I admired him a lot as a coach. We stayed in touch and he is one of the people that has always believed in me.”

Baghdatis also signed for IMG, the global sports and media business, to build his profile and raise his profile international, and aged 25 he took the difficult decision to step down from Davis Cup duty in September. “It was definitely not an easy decision to step down from Davis Cup,” he says. “But I have to think that Cypriots and my fans will realise that winning a Grand Slam or breaking back into the Top 10 at this stage of my career is a better goal than playing in Division II.”

When his season was curtailed by a shoulder injury in late October, Baghdatis took 10 days off to recuperate. Then, from 14 November, for five straight weeks, Baghdatis gritted his teeth and subjected himself to an arduous training regimen. “There are always people who say what I am doing is not enough,” confirms Baghdatis, “yet if I focus on what I am doing then I know I will be happy.”

The goal was to step decisively in a new direction. To ensure that at the end of his career, he would not ask himself, ‘What if…?’ Living out of a suitcase, in yet another hotel room, with only his coach Peyre, physical trainer Andreas Nicolaou and physio Diego Martos for company, Baghdatis stepped into the unknown, determined to push himself harder than at any stage of his career.

"I have a lot of problems with athleticism, so I have to put in the extra hours off court."

“Tennis has changed a lot since I had good results in 2005 and 2006,” explains Baghdatis. “Everyone is playing better tennis and I feel as if I am a better player myself. Each year, the sport evolves.

“I have a lot of problems with athleticism, so I have to put in the extra hours off court to ensure I am in good shape mentally and physically to compete at the highest level. Because, I know at 25, I will have some more chances at Grand Slams.”

Taking just Sundays off, Baghdatis trained for 26-30 hours per week. “Marcos may not have liked it at times, but he has always been disciplined in his training to become a better tennis player,” confesses Nicolaou. "He did the same off-season training three or four years ago, but with very different results."

At meal times, fried and fatty foods — like pizzas, burgers, lamb and veal — disappeared from the menu, replaced by five small steamed or grilled meals a day, in an effort to stabilise Baghdatis’ weight management. Turkey and cheese on whole wheat bread, sometimes with peanut butter, three white half egg-yolks, Weetabix cereal and honey became breakfast favourites as Baghdatis consumed up to 3,100 calories per day.

In an effort to stay mentally fresh, high altitude cycling on the Troodos Mountains, which helped build endurance, was interspersed with gym work that developed core strength. With the right motivation, Baghdatis began to run up to 36 kilometres per hour on the treadmill and cycled for up to two-and-a-half hours per day in power training. During the first few weeks, swimming, running and stretching also took priority over his desire to spend more time on court.

His performance was carefully monitored. The results were remarkable. “When he played football, you could see the change in his body,” says Nicolaou. “He was running 10 metres in 1.7 seconds, now he can do it 1.6 seconds. He used to struggle with 100 kilograms on the bench press. We can now increase it to 130 kilograms, which is good progress.

“He was 86 kilograms with 14.8 per cent body fat. Now he’s 82.3 kilograms and 10 per cent body fat. What has impressed me is how fast his heart recovers after extreme exercise. He can reach 180 beats per minute, yet drop down to 90 quickly. The main thing now is that we have to take care; we have to support these numbers. The development is to decrease the fat and increase the muscle mass, so Marcos will be more powerful and more agile.

"During the season we will look to maintain his fitness levels through injury prevention, core strength work and a regeneration program. A lot depends on how he does at tournaments, but that is the plan."

"It was no accident he was in the Top 10, a few years ago."

Stanislas Wawrinka, who first met Baghdatis in the semi-finals of the 2001 under-16 European Championships, believes his friend is now capable of returning to the Top 10. “He’s been there before and he’s reached a final of a Grand Slam, and a semi-final,” said the Swiss. “He’s had some problems with injuries and that has set him back quite a bit. But I think if he can stay fit and play a full season then he has everything to get back up there.”

Peyre agrees. “It was no accident he was in the Top 10, a few years ago. As long as he keeps working hard, he’ll be in contention to attain his goals. For me, if he is to break back into the Top 10 he will also need to improve his first serve percentage. He’ll then be in contention to win a big tournament, which is a goal for both of us.”

In 2003, when Baghdatis turned professional and was crowned ITF Junior World Champion, he was very confident in his ability. He knew how good he was. “Every time he was playing someone that was supposed to be much better than him, he would go on court to beat him and that would pay off 90 per cent of the time,” remembers Mouratoglou. “He enjoyed moving up the rankings and was really excited with the idea of achieving big goals. This enthusiasm was very contagious.”

Mouratoglou believes with that attitude, Baghdatis can achieve anything. “When he wants to do something, he gives all his heart and dedication for it,” he says. “Then he can achieve unbelievable things. He just sometimes needs a click to decide, and then go straight in one direction.”

Last year, Baghdatis rose from No. 150 to back inside the Top 20 and after a gruelling off-season, the shaggy-haired World No. 21 has put himself back in contention again.  “Marcos is a bright and determined kid,” says his proud father. “He appreciates what he’s got and is now ready to apply himself to maximise his talent.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE- … datis.aspx

The last time you asked for someone autograph?

- No, no never. Me? No. I'm from Cyprus.

Zawsze jest taki rozmowny?