Marcos Baghdatis looking for a fresh start in 2011
Tennis fans all around the world will experience a thinner, quicker and much stronger Marcos Baghdatis as the ATP World Tour begins in Brisbane during the first week of 2011.
The professional tennis ace from Cyprus couldn’t take part in the final two scheduled events this year in Paris and Basel as a result of his shoulder injury. The right hander has been going through a series of training and nutrition programmes in order to
come back strongly on the tour since November.
The 25-year-old, who made his debut on the ATP tour back in 2003, started his 2010 season by playing at the Brisbane International where he got the better of Mardy Fish in two sets in his first round match. The final score line was 7–5, 7–5. In his second
round, the Cypriot however was bundled out of the event at the hands of Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic. The final match score was 0–6, 1–6.
Currently ranked number twenty in the South African Airways ATP list, Baghdatis next played at the Medibank International ATP competition in Sydney. He did well to make his way into the title battle after getting the better of Nick Lindahl, Viktor Troicki,
Lleyton Hewitt and Mardy Fish on his way. In the finals, he eventually triumphed after thrashing out Richard Gasquet in two sets. The final match score was 6–4, 7–6(2).
His other season highlights include, runner up effort in the Leg Mason Tennis Classic, semi final appearances in the 2010 Western and Southern Financial Group Masters and Women’s Open, 2010 Dubai Tennis Tournament, BMW Open, quarter final showings in the
2010 Open de Nice Cote d Azur, Farmers Classic and Pilot Pen tournament in New Heaven.
While commenting on his training sessions since November, the Limassol resident reflected, “Everything was different. Some days we woke up very early, around 7 o’clock, took the bikes and we went up to the Troodos mountains. When we came down, we worked
two hours in the gym in the afternoon doing a bit of everything – core, abdominal, muscle training and power. The next day we would wake up, go to the gym and work on the power, work on the treadmill a little bit, then in the afternoon we would go to play
a bit of tennis, come back and go again to the gym or play soccer. It was different kinds of training so I would not get bored mentally; for me it was fun.”
Marcos, now himself admits the fact that he feels much stronger on the court and is hoping to get even better in the future. His consistent gym, training and practice sessions have helped him improving his game in all departments without any question.
Former world number eight, has also worked on his diet over the last few months. He now takes five meals a day; however with small portions. The right hander is following a strict diet plan which does not allow the intake of fatty food like pizzas and burgers
of fried stuff.
An intentional effort by the American tennis ace Mardy Fish to work on his fitness and weight management turned out to be extremely beneficial for him last year, with the right hander having an excellent summer, including crowns at Atlanta and New port and
advancing into the finals at The Queen’s Club and Cincinnati. Marcos Baghdatis, will therefore, also hope for a similar season when he begins his 2011 campaign at the Brisbane International where he recorded his career best result by reaching the finals back
in 2006.
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