134 Facts About Marcos Baghdatis

Marcos Baghdatis ; born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach.

Marcos Baghdatis was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, and reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No 8 in August 2006.

Marcos Baghdatis was born in Paramytha, Cyprus, to a Lebanese father, Christos, and a Greek Cypriot mother, Androula.

Marcos Baghdatis began playing tennis at the age of five with his father and brothers.

Marcos Baghdatis grew up idolizing tennis players Pat Rafter, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

Marcos Baghdatis enjoys playing and watching football and is a supporter of Apollon Limassol in Cyprus.

Marcos Baghdatis trained at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris on an Olympic Solidarity Youth Development Programme Scholarship since the age of 14 and learned to speak French.

Marcos Baghdatis received the 2005 Cyprus Male Athlete of the Year award.

On 14 July 2012, Marcos Baghdatis married the Croatian former tennis player Karolina Sprem.

Marcos Baghdatis played his first junior match in September 1998 at the age of 14 at a Grade-5 tournament in Cyprus.

Marcos Baghdatis made the final at the 2002 Junior US Open but lost to Richard Gasquet.

Marcos Baghdatis reached No 1 in the ITF Junior Circuit world singles rankings in January 2003.

Marcos Baghdatis then won the 2003 Junior Australian Open as the top seed defeating Florin Mergea in the final.

Marcos Baghdatis then repeated his final feat from 2002 at the 2003 Junior US Open but lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, his major rival in his junior career.

Marcos Baghdatis then won the 2003 Orange Bowl for the U18 category defeating Gael Monfils in the final.

Marcos Baghdatis picked up his form later in that year.

At the US Open, Marcos Baghdatis played for the first time in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

Marcos Baghdatis was one of only two players who won a set from eventual champion, Roger Federer.

Marcos Baghdatis then finished the year with two Challenger tournament titles, in which he defeated many higher-ranked opponents.

Marcos Baghdatis held two match points in his first-round match against a resurging Juan Carlos Ferrero, but failed to convert them into a win.

Marcos 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.

Marcos Baghdatis entered the Australian Open as an unseeded player, under the coaching of Guillaume Peyre, and produced an unexpected four-set victory over second-seed and world No 3, Andy Roddick, in the fourth round.

Marcos Baghdatis then defeated the seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic in the quarterfinals in five sets.

At the French Open, Marcos Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Julien Benneteau.

At Wimbledon, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets.

Marcos Baghdatis then lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in three sets.

At the US Open, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Alexander Waske in the first round.

Marcos Baghdatis played retiring Andre Agassi in the second round, and in a long match that lasted past midnight, Baghdatis lost in five sets.

At the China Open, an ATP International Series event, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Mario Ancic in the final for his first career ATP tournament championship.

Marcos 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 in four sets.

Marcos Baghdatis won his next tournament in Zagreb, defeating Ivan Ljubicic in a three-set final.

At the French Open, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Sebastien Grosjean in the first round and Kristian Pless to advance to the third round.

At the first grass-court tournament of the season in Halle, Marcos Baghdatis reached his sixth career singles final by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semifinals.

Marcos Baghdatis reached the semifinals by defeating Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo.

Marcos Baghdatis then lost to second seed Rafael Nadal, in three sets.

Marcos Baghdatis started his season on the 2008 ATP Tour at the Chennai Open in India, where he lost to Robin Haase in the first round.

At the Australian Open, Marcos Baghdatis defeated 2002 champion Thomas Johansson and 2005 champion Marat Safin, before losing in the third round to 2005 runner-up Lleyton Hewitt, in five sets.

At the Wimbledon Championships, seeded tenth, Marcos Baghdatis progressed to the fourth round, where he lost to Feliciano Lopez in five sets.

Marcos Baghdatis suffered injuries for the remainder of the season and did not participate in the US Open.

At the Delray Beach International Championships, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Ernests Gulbis and Dudi Sela before losing to Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinals in two tiebreaks.

Marcos Baghdatis returned to the ATP Tour with a three-set loss to Wayne Odesnik in Indianapolis.

Marcos Baghdatis won the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, a Challenger event over Xavier Malisse in the final.

Marcos Baghdatis failed to qualify for the Cincinnati Masters, losing to Robert Kendrick in the opening qualifying round.

Marcos Baghdatis won his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season, after defeating Xavier Malisse again, in the final of the Trophee des Alpilles in St Remy.

Marcos Baghdatis won his opening match in the ATP 250 tournament in Kuala Lumpur, against Lu Yen-hsun, but was beaten by Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets in the next round.

At the 2009 If Stockholm Open, Marcos Baghdatis reached his first ATP final since 2007 at Halle.

Marcos Baghdatis followed this up with crushing victories over Robert Kendrick and Arnaud Clement.

Marcos Baghdatis beat Rochus in the final to win just his third ATP title, which ended his two and a half year title drought.

Marcos Baghdatis started off the year at the Brisbane International beating Mardy Fish before losing to Tomas Berdych, winning just one game.

Marcos Baghdatis then entered the Medibank International tournament in Sydney, where he beat Nick Lindahl, Viktor Troicki and Lleyton Hewitt, rallying from a set and a break down in the second set to win in a three-sets quarterfinal.

At the Australian Open, Marcos Baghdatis beat Paolo Lorenzi in the opening round and 17th seed David Ferrer in the five-sets second round.

Marcos Baghdatis made a second-round appearance at the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, losing to eventual champion Michael Llodra.

Marcos Baghdatis then appeared at the Dubai Championships, but came into the tournament with stomach cramps.

Marcos Baghdatis had a disappointing start to the clay-court season, being eliminated in the first rounds of both the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Rome Masters by Albert Montanes and Ernests Gulbis, respectively.

Marcos Baghdatis next played in the BMW Open, where he beat Peter Gojowczyk in three sets, Marco Chiudinelli in straight set and Philipp Kohlschreiber in two sets.

At the French Open, Marcos Baghdatis was beaten by Britain's Andy Murray in the third round in four sets.

Marcos Baghdatis suffered a surprisingly poor run in the 2010 grass-court season.

Marcos Baghdatis went out in the first rounds in all three grass court tournaments he entered by Philipp Petzschner in Halle, Peter Luczak in s-Hertogenbosch, and Lukas Lacko at Wimbledon.

However, a reshuffle behind the scenes after the grass court season has resulted in Marcos Baghdatis working with Guillaume Perye.

Marcos Baghdatis reached the quarterfinals at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, where he lost to Janko Tipsarevic for the first time in their third meeting, and reached the final at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, where he lost to in-form David Nalbandian, who marked his thorough comeback on the tour there.

Marcos Baghdatis was ousted in the opening round at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, losing to Jeremy Chardy in three sets.

Marcos Baghdatis had a chance to win the year's US Open Series if he won this tournament.

Marcos Baghdatis started the 2011 season by competing in the Brisbane International, losing in the quarterfinal to defending champion and second-seeded American Andy Roddick in two sets.

Marcos Baghdatis made it to the third round of the Australian Open, before retiring midway through the fourth set against Jurgen Melzer due to a finger injury.

Marcos Baghdatis had a very quiet summer on the ATP tour, his most noticeable appearance was at the Wimbledon Championships where he was the 32nd seed and gave eventual winner Novak Djokovic a tough test in the third round, losing in four sets, during a point in the match Djokovic was unable to keep his cool on the Centre Court and at the end of losing a long rally repeatedly hit the grass court with his racket.

Just before the US Series, Marcos Baghdatis teamed up with British coach Miles Maclagan.

Marcos Baghdatis found some form in the Kuala Lumpur, where he was runner up to a determined Janko Tipsarevic.

In Tokyo, Marcos Baghdatis lost narrowly to Andy Murray in three sets.

Marcos Baghdatis has a lot of talent, a big serve and has many ways to hurt you on the court.

Marcos Baghdatis was fined A$770 by the organization of the Australian Open for this behaviour.

Marcos Baghdatis played Andy Murray in the third round of Wimbledon playing under the closed roof until 11:03pm, eventually losing in four sets.

In July 2012 Marcos Baghdatis was selected by the Cypriot Olympic Committee to carry the Cypriot flag in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Games.

Marcos Baghdatis defeated Albert Ramos in the first round and Tatsuma Ito of Japan in the second round.

At the French Open, Marcos Baghdatis lost in the first round to the 24th seed Benoit Paire.

At Wimbledon, Marcos Baghdatis was defeated in the first round by the 10th seed Marin Cilic.

Marcos Baghdatis had impressive wins over Lukas Lacko in three sets and 11th-ranked and second seed Kei Nishikori whom he defeated with the loss of three games to reach the quarterfinals.

At the US Open, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Tatsuma Ito in the first round.

At the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Marcos Baghdatis defeated Benjamin Becker in the first round before losing in the second round to top-seeded and eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro in two sets.

Marcos Baghdatis was not given a wildcard into the Brisbane International, although he did receive one for the Heineken Open in Auckland.

Marcos Baghdatis entered the Australian Open, ranked at a low 109 in the ATP rankings.

Marcos Baghdatis had another memorable match in the third round against Tsonga, but he could not convert his chances and lost in three sets after more than two hours.

Marcos Baghdatis started the clay-court season with a first-round loss at the US Clay Court Championships in Houston to Alejandro Gonzalez.

Marcos Baghdatis ended the year at No 85 in the ATP rankings.

Marcos Baghdatis made the final, before bowing out to American Ryan Harrison in straight sets.

Marcos Baghdatis returned to the Australian Open, where he beat Teymuraz Gabashvili in five sets and 22nd-ranked David Goffin in four sets with an impressive display of attacking tennis.

Marcos Baghdatis's campaign ended in dramatic fashion in round 3 against Grigor Dimitrov.

At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Marcos Baghdatis defeated for the second time this season David Goffin, before being forced to retire hurt in a final set tie-breaker against Borna Coric in the second round.

At Roland Garros, Marcos Baghdatis stunned 25th ranked Ivo Karlovic for the second time this season, winning in three sets.

Marcos Baghdatis stunned world No 7 David Ferrer, young gun Alexander Zverev and Simone Bolleli to his way to the semifinals.

In round 2, Marcos Baghdatis, struggling with his calf injury and form, was trailing two sets and a break down against Australian qualifier John Millman.

Marcos Baghdatis ran out of gas in round 3, with David Goffin exacting revenge against the Cypriot with a comfortable victory.

Marcos Baghdatis's resurgence continued at the Atlanta Open to kick-off his US Open swing.

Marcos Baghdatis, defeated Austin Krajicek, Sam Groth and Vasek Pospisil on his way to the semifinals.

Unfortunately, due to the groin injury suffered in Atlanta, Marcos Baghdatis was forced to pull out of the events following Atlanta, except for Winston-Salem.

At the US Open, Marcos Baghdatis was forced to pull out of the tournament in the middle of his opening-round match against Steve Darcis.

Marcos Baghdatis was solid on the ATP World Tour over the coming months.

Marcos Baghdatis reached the round of 16 at St Petersburg, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

Marcos Baghdatis ended the year at No 46 in the ATP rankings and will hope to continue his resurgence in 2016.

At the Australian Open, where Marcos Baghdatis was unseeded, he drew ninth seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in a match between two former finalists.

Marcos Baghdatis next participated at the ATP 250 tournament, Open Sud de France.

Marcos Baghdatis defeated Lukas Lacko and saved seven second set setpoints against Taro Daniel, winning in straight sets.

Marcos Baghdatis next moved onto Rotterdam, where he competed at the ABN AMRO ATP-500-tournament.

Marcos Baghdatis's run ended in Rotterdam after round two, with a two-sets defeat to eventual champion, Martin Klizan.

Marcos Baghdatis continued his resurgence at the prestigious Dubai Tennis Championships.

Marcos Baghdatis, stunned Viktor Troicki, Vasek Pospisil, Bautista Agut and Feliciano Lopez on his way to the final.

Marcos Baghdatis lost to Stan Wawrinka in the final, including a near 30-minute tiebreaker in the second set.

Marcos Baghdatis, re-entered the world's top 40 for the first time in three years, and hit form that was present from ten years before.

Traditionally his worst surface, Marcos Baghdatis began his clay-court season in Houston.

Marcos Baghdatis recorded the first double-bagel victory of his career in the opening round against Diego Schwartzman, before stunning Fernando Verdasco to reach the quarterfinals.

Marcos Baghdatis struggled for majority of the clay-court season, recording first-round losses in Bucharest and Madrid, while pulling out of a number of other tournaments.

At Roland Garros, Marcos Baghdatis recorded an impressive straight-sets win over Giles Muller, before despite winning the first two sets, bowing out in a thriller to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in five sets.

Marcos Baghdatis produced solid, without spectacular results over the coming months.

Marcos Baghdatis made the quarterfinals in both Halle and Nottingham on grass, with his run in Halle en route to a straight-sets victory over world No 8, Tomas Berdych.

Marcos Baghdatis was disappointed at Wimbledon, ousted in straight sets to John Isner.

Marcos Baghdatis extended his grass-court season in Newport, and made the semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Ivo Karlovic.

Marcos Baghdatis was forced to pull out of the Olympic Games in Rio due an elbow injury.

Marcos Baghdatis lost in the first round in seven out of the 15 ATP tournaments he played during the 2017 year.

Marcos Baghdatis's continued struggle with form saw his year-end ranking fall outside the top 100 for the first time since 2004.

Similar results with numerous first round exits followed in 2018, with Marcos Baghdatis finishing the year ranked 125.

At the 2017 Chengdu Open, Marcos Baghdatis made his last ATP final where he lost against Denis Istomin after being forced to retire in the first set due to a back injury.

At the 2018 Indian Wells Masters, Marcos Baghdatis went on a run to the fourth round as a qualifier defeating Yoshihito Nishioka, 14th seed Diego Schwartzman, and Dudi Sela along the way.

Marcos Baghdatis withdrew from his fourth round match against Milos Raonic due to injury.

Marcos Baghdatis lost to Jared Donaldson in the first round in straight sets.

At the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, Marcos Baghdatis won his last match over a top-10 when he defeated world No 7, Dominic Thiem, in the first round.

Marcos Baghdatis lost to Radu Albot in the quarterfinals in straight sets.

Marcos Baghdatis received a wildcard into Dubai Open two weeks later where he won his opening match against fellow wildcard Mohamed Safwat but lost in the next round to Gael Monfils in straight sets.

Marcos Baghdatis announced that he would retire and that the 2019 Wimbledon Championships would be his last tournament.

Marcos Baghdatis received a wild-card entry into the main draw and defeated Brayden Schnur in the first round in straight sets which would be his last win of his career.

Marcos Baghdatis was cheered by fans in the stadium as he was leaving the court in tears.

Marcos Baghdatis made his Davis Cup debut for the Cyprus Davis Cup team in 2000 as a 14-year-old.

In 2009, the Group II relegation play-off tie was held in Nicosia, Cyprus and Marcos Baghdatis led the team.

Marcos Baghdatis is one of the most successful Davis Cup players in the modern era.

Marcos Baghdatis has the longest winning streak in Davis Cup matches of all time with 36 consecutive singles victories, surpassing the previously held record of 33 by Bjorn Borg.

Supporters of Marcos Baghdatis said he was not calling for Turkish Cypriots to leave Cyprus but, rather, an end to Turkey's military occupation since 1974.