Marcos Baghdatis (Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, ) born June 17, 1985, Limassol) is a Cypriot professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships. As of November 5, 2007, he is ranked No. 16 on the ATP rankings.

Marcos Baghdatis is the son of a Lebanese father who migrated to Cyprus and a Greek Cypriot mother.

Baghdatis began playing tennis at age five with his father and brothers. He enjoys playing and watching football (soccer), and is a supporter of Apollon Limassol in Cyprus. He trained at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris on an Olympic Solidarity Youth Development Programme Scholarship since the age of 13 and learned to speak French. He attended the Grammar School in Limassol. His family was the first to own a house with a tennis court in Limassol.

On January 28, 2006, Baghdatis received an exemption from the otherwise mandatory Cypriot national service so that he could concentrate instead on playing tennis. Had he not been exempted, he would have been required to serve 25 months in the military, as is required of all Cypriot males upon reaching 18 years of age.

He also received the honor as the 2005 Cyprus Male Athlete of the Year for his accomplishments.

Baghdatis became the ITF World Junior Tennis Champion in 2003 and joined the ATP professional tour later that year.

Baghdatis performed moderately throughout most of 2004. He picked up his form later in that year.

At the U.S. Open, Baghdatis played for the first time in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. He defeated Olivier Mutis in a first round match 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5. He was one of only two players who won a set from eventual champion Roger Federer (the other being Andre Agassi). Baghdatis then finished the year with two challenger tournament titles, in which he defeated many higher ranked opponents.

Baghdatis's 2005 season began with a first round loss in the Chennai Open.

In his next tournament, which was the Australian Open, as a qualifier Baghdatis defeated then-top-20 player Ivan Ljubičić in the second round and had a straight sets victory over another top-20 player, Tommy Robredo, in the third round before losing to Roger Federer in the fourth round.

Baghdatis suffered an elbow injury right after the Australian Open and was out of the professional tour until late April, when he entered a clay court tournament, the Estoril Open in Portugal. He held two match points in his first-round match against a resurging Juan Carlos Ferrero, but failed to convert them into a win.

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. As a qualifier, he reached the final of the ATP tournament at Basel, defeating former world number 2 Tommy Haas, world number 40 Jose Acasuso, and the would-be 2005 Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian. But he lost the final to Chilean Fernando González 6-7(10), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. Although he was not the first qualifier to reach an ATP tour event final, he was the first player from Cyprus to do so.

Baghdatis entered the Australian Open as an unseeded player and produced an unexpected four-set (6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4) victory over second-seed and world number three Andy Roddick of the United States in the fourth round. He then defeated the seventh-seed Croat Ivan Ljubičić in a quarterfinal 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, and in a semifinal, he came back from two sets down to defeat the fourth-seed Argentine David Nalbandian 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The vocal support he enjoyed from his local fans (consisting mostly of members of Melbourne's large Greek Australian community) throughout the tournament was considered one of the highlights of the tournament. In the final, Baghdatis started strongly but eventually lost to world number 1 Roger Federer 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.

At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round to Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4.

At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-2. Baghdatis then lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals 6-1, 7-5, 6-3.

At the U.S. Open, Baghdatis defeated Alexander Waske of Germany in the first round 7-6(1), 7-6(7), 6-3. He played retiring U.S. player Andre Agassi in the second round, and in a long match that lasted past midnight, Baghdatis lost 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5. Although Agassi seemed to be cruising early in the fourth set, Baghdatis rallied from down 4-0 to take the set. He overcame cramping in the fifth set, trying to push the set into a tiebreaker, but Agassi broke his serve in the last game.

At the China Open, an ATP International Series event, Baghdatis defeated Mario Ančić in the final 6-4, 6-0 for his first career ATP tournament championship.

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 7-6 (5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.

He won his next tournament in Zagreb, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4. At the International Series Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France, Baghdatis advanced to his second consecutive singles final and the fifth of his career, where he lost to Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6(3).

At the French Open, Baghdatis defeated former semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean in the first round 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. He then beat Kristian Pless of Denmark 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to advance for the first time in his career to the third round. There, he defeated Czech Jan Hajek 6-2, 6-2, and then Hajek retired. In the fourth round, Baghdatis lost to Russian Igor Andreev in four sets.

At the first grass court tournament of the season in Halle, Baghdatis reached his sixth career singles final by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semifinals 7-6(1), 6-4. In the final, which took place on his birthday, he lost to Czech Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4.

At Wimbledon, as the #10 seed (16th-ranked), he made it to the quarterfinals for the second straight year, defeating Ernests Gulbis, Nicolas Devilder, #23 seed (25th-ranked) David Nalbandian, and #6 seed (4th-ranked) Nikolay Davydenko, before losing to #4 seed (5th-ranked) Novak Đoković in a thrilling 5-hour match which Đoković won 7-6(4) 7-6(9) 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5. At the next Grand Slam, the 2007 U.S. Open, Baghdatis was defeated by #106 ranked Max Mirnyi, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-7 in the first round. Baghdatis had a 1-5 lead in the last set tiebreaker but lost it 8-6.

At the 2007 Paris Masters, Baghdatis found good form. He reached the third round, where he crushed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2, and then entered the quarterfinals and defeated Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4. Despite being up, one set to love and possessing an early service break in the penultimate set, Baghdatis was unable to post his first ever victory against the No. 2 seed, Rafael Nadal, losing to the Spaniard, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Had he won the tournament (and had Richard Gasquet lost in his semifinal match against David Nalbandian), he would have qualified for the 8th and final position in the Tennis Masters Cup event in Shanghai.

Baghdatis's playing style is relaxed and smooth. His main strength is a powerful forehand and a natural talent for placement. He can make accurate and powerful down-the-line forehands and cross-court forehands on the run and often patiently constructs points to get in a position from where he can make outright winners with those shots. He also has one of the best backhands in the game, especially his two-handed backhand down the line. Baghdatis is noted for often playing high-risk tennis, attempting difficult shots which, depending on their execution, can pay off big or backfire. Unfortunately, these difficult shots have sometimes resulted in self-destructive losses.

He also has an exuberant and festive on-court presence that frequently rubs off on to the spectators. According to the Guardian, "Baghdatis is a wonderfully ebullient character who radiates immense enjoyment whenever and wherever he plays, and ... has acquired a loyal throng of fans who roar his every winning point."

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*Of the 133 players who have ranked in the Top 10 (since 1973), Baghdatis is one of only three players to break into the Top 10 before winning his first career ATP title (also Cedric Pioline, Mikael Pernfors). *In 2006, he was one of the 4 players who reached at least two semifinals in a Grand Slam Tournament (the others were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian). *His 2 singles titles came after defeating a Croatian in the final (Mario Ančić at Beijing and Ivan Ljubičić at Zagreb). *He speaks Greek, French and English.

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through ATP Masters Series in Paris, which concluded on November 4, 2007.

Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the ****** of singles tournaments won to the ****** of those tournaments played.

: * As of November 19, 2007.

# Hail Baghdatis, the upstart from Cyprus. Michele Kambas, January 26, 2006. Reuters. # Baghdatis arrives to lead new wave of stars. Steve Bierley. January 21, 2006. The Guardian.

*Marcos Baghdatis's official website * * Baghdatis Recent Match Results * Baghdatis World Ranking History * Other Cypriot Men Recent Match Results *Mouratoglou Tennis Academy *All hail Baghdatis *Marcos Baghdatis's junior profile on ITF *[mailto:marcos_baghdatis@hotmail.com E-mail Marcos Baghdatis] *General information about Baghdatis *Greek News about Marcos Baghdatis