Tennis Update: ATP Number 20- Marcos Baghdatis in 2010
Marcos Baghdatis, World Number 20, is a Greek Cypriot tennis pro. He turned pro in 2003, and his best career year was 2006 – not only did he reach his career-high ranking of World Number 8, he also made it to the Australian Open title match and the semi
finals of the Wimbledon Championships that year. However, he suffered from multiple injuries in 2008; this pulled him down to World Number 100. The years after that one have been, for Baghdatis, attempts to make up for what he lost two years ago.
Marcos Baghdatis’s best performance in 2010 was once again on the hard courts in Australia. He showed flair and natural aptitude for the game, characteristics which had been missing for so long that fans had almost forgotten about them. He defeated top notch
players such as Richard Gasquet, Mardy Fish, Lleyton Hewitt and Viktor Troicki to take away his fourth career title at the Sydney International. This performance, however, was only a slight preview of what was yet to come; in a comeback victory which he himself
called “the best of my career”, Baghdatis defeated first seed Roger Federer at Indian Wells by fighting back from a set down to battle three match points. He won the match 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).
Despite these triumphs, Baghdatis’s stamina is still somewhat unreliable. He seems to falter particularly at big events like the Grand Slams; this year, he was unable to progress past the third round of any Major event. On the contrary, he was knocked out
of Wimbledon and the US Open in the first rounds by World Number 75 Lukas Lacko and 32 year old Arnaud Clement respectively. These are not textbook failures; Baghdatis is ranked higher than Lacko, and he is younger and fitter than Clement. The opening rounds
should not have been a problem, but they prove that he still has a great deal of improvement to undergo. He won only four Grand Slam matches this year.
In retrospect, this year was a definite improvement for Baghdatis. At the beginning of the year, he reaffirmed himself as a player who excels at the game during the start of the season. Baghdatis also made it to the Munich semis before losing to Marin Cilic,
and the Cincinnati semis before being beaten by Federer. He was runner up to David Nalbandian at Washington.
However, injuries plagued the Greek Cypriot player once again and he was forced to withdraw from the season after the Moscow event. Perhaps his biggest problem is that he serves bigger than he should, and consequently his strike-percentage decreases.
As proved by his best match of the year, in which he defeated Roger Federer, Baghdatis definitely has the potential to be one of the best. However, lack of consistency is one of his greatest failings. In his last 14 Grand Slam showings, he has only reached
one quarterfinal; the will and dedication to be one of the Top 10 players is not seen in Baghdatis. However, with some practice, he may able to maintain a position between World Number 15 and World Number 40 in the next year. He is talented enough to overcome
his problems of concentration; however, he will have to work much harder to become one of the World’s Top Ten.
Tags: