Marcos Baghdatis

admin · Marcos Baghdatis

Will Marcos Baghdatis be able to continue his steak into the top 10 or was his performance in Australia just a fluke? How far will he go within the year?

J-man

marcos is my new favorite player. i voted that he would be in the top 20. if he continues to play like he did at AO then he might even be top 10

beachjm

I really don't see Baghdatis being a fluke. Federer exposed him a bit the past 2 sets of the final, but this guy has a ton of game. He plays a well rounded style and has some nice pop on his serve and forehand. The backhand is pretty solid too. But most important (like Nadal) he's mentally tough. He won 3 tough 5 setters Down Under and didn't fold at all in the beginning to Federer. A lot of 1st time GS finalists just can't deal with the pressure. This guy seems to love the spotlight and not shy away from it. He might not reach the top 10 this year (depends how he does on clay and some other surfaces) but I think he has a very, very bright future ahead of him.

J-man

i agree. he has it all it almost seems. but we will have to see how he does on clay (which i think he will have pretty good results on) and grass.

dav6789

He is 27 in the world now, so I think he will get to the top 20. After that, I dont really know... he is young so he has the chance, but somehow I dont see him winning slams or dominating...

J-man

i think he could win at least one slam in his carrer

dav6789

If he did, it would be on hard courts, probably in Melbourne.

J-man

yes there is a good chance of that. the things as long as federer is healthy and playing well he can't win. but once federer is done and baghdatis is healty and ready he could capture AO

x.doublea

Not necessarily. Baghdatis made a great run this year and I he can only get better, and he has already created trouble for Federer, who's level, I feel, isn't as high as it was the past two years. I think for this generation, Safin is the best rebound ace players, but Federer's a favourite on any surface.

J-man

you know i think federer's level of play has fallen alittle bit. but i really think this is do because players are rising their playing level. thus causing federer to have trouble against other players

x.doublea

Federer has too many mental lapses in the middle of matches. If he didn't have this, he would have played much shorter matches against Baghdatis, Davydenko, and Haas (and even Kiefer).

J-man

the mental lappes thing brought something to mind. when i was watching bahgdatis in some matches he would drop a set like 6-0 or 6-1. did he do this to conserve energy for the next set that really counted???

x.doublea

Perhaps...I think that he was just tired in those sets and had a little renaissance in the next set. Unfortunately, the renaissance didn't come in the final.

J-man

yeah i think in the final he was just to tired and when he tried to rest and dropped the 3 set it give federer alot of condidence to just blow him away in the 4 set

x.doublea

Baghdatis was quite unlucky in the second set. He had opportunity to get a break ahead of Federer for a second time in the set but Federer saved it. If he had broken, he would have been up two sets to love.

J-man

federer has really been lucky on saving key points

x.doublea

He comes up with the best shots at the most important points.

J-man

that also seems to have been baghdatis situation at times. he would find the his serve at the right moments

x.doublea

They both don't hit that many aces, but they come up with them at the right times.

J-man

federer is smart about he's serve. unlike roddick who tries to go for the ace federer sets up his points. federer will just hit a kick serve throwing his oppoent off balence and then go for the winner

x.doublea

It's also a matter of how effective your serve is at setting up your game. For example, Agassi's serve is the best for him because it opens up the court and helps set up his huge ground strokes. Federer does the same thing but has a better serve. Roddick uses his serves to hit aces. The problem with this is if your serve suddenly doesn't click, your strokes are useless because you do not have anything to allow them to use those options.

J-man

exactly

x.doublea

I'm surprised his coach hasn't got it yet. I'm really surprised Roddick fired Gilbert after 2004 and didn't fire his current coach after his subpar 2005 year.

J-man

yeah. weild i guess roddick has other motives for keeping his coach

x.doublea

Tennis Life Magazine predicted that Roddick will fire his coach by the end of the year. He has already fired two...no reason why he will not fire a third.

J-man

speaking of firing coaches, petrova fired her's Laughing

x.doublea

She probably fired her coach because he couldn't fix the number of unforced errors she hits. Smile

J-man

she said that he wasn't tough enough

x.doublea

That's a pretty weak reason to fire a coach, though.

J-man

yeah i guess. i think she wants to be pushed to her limit and become a better tennis player that way

x.doublea

She can't ask anyone to do that; she must push herself to the limit....her coach is only there to help, she must do most of the work.

J-man

but obvisouly she doesn't see that

x.doublea

But still, I can understand someone firing a coach for coaching poorly or not having good chemistry, but for not being tough enough?

J-man

i guess she could have always aked her coach to be tougher

x.doublea

I guess it would be awkward to tell your coach what to do, though....

J-man

but players should feel at ease with their coach

x.doublea

I guess so....she did the right thing if she wasn't feeling good with her coach.

J-man

yeah i guess.................... Confused

baselinebrawler

Baghdatis is no fluke at all, it will just take time for him to break into the next tier of players I see him staying in the 20's for a while then gradually progessing into the top top by 2007.

J-man

i agree bahgdatis was not a fluke. by the end of this year he will be in the top 20 and maybe even be in the top 10

x.doublea

He'll have to be able to keep his momentum up. Hopefully, Cyprus will relieve him from serving military time.

J-man

they make you serve miltary time as a duty? oh well. i think he will keep his momentum throughout the year

x.doublea

The military service will really waste his talent and success; he would have to waste two years of his career doing something unproductive.

J-man

yeah. so i bet the president will let him play tennis tennis rather than serve mitary time. the country would be mad if he dropped tennis for 2 years

x.doublea

If I remember correctly, the government is think about releiving his duties.

J-man

well they better. he's really the only reason people know where cyprus is. plus he's doing more than the army is right now

x.doublea

I heard the government awarded his family $400 000 for his efforts or something.

J-man

wow. i've never heard of a country doing that before.

x.doublea

Yes, that is wierd for a country to do. I fit is true, I'm sure the people don't really care.

J-man

but then again he's really the big star they've had

x.doublea

Yes...he has been named Cyprus's man of the year for the past two years.

J-man

yeah that's a great achivevment for him

x.doublea

Yes...his athletic accomplishment at the AO rival the Greek Eurocup win, not to mention his charisma.

J-man

yes he is someone to marvel

x.doublea

His greatest strength might be his heart and his effort, above his excellent ground strokes.

J-man

yes i know. he stole the show at AO

x.doublea

I know I have beaten this to death, but I'll say it again...Baghdatis was the winner of the tournament.

J-man

federer was overshawoded by baghdatis.

baselinebrawler

Most certainly Baghdatis was the fan favorite

x.doublea

Especially since Baghdatis played extremely well throughout the tournament, coming up with spectacular comebacks and shots, while Federer was merely scraping through the draw without his normal brilliance.

baselinebrawler

I hope Marcos continues to show promise in his upcoming performances. he definitly has the personality to get a crowd going.

x.doublea

I'm not sure when he's playing next, because he's taking a major break right now.

baselinebrawler

He deserves a break.

J-man

yeah he needs to rest all that media attenion makes you tired

x.doublea

Yes, those five/four set matches really take a lot out of anyone playing tennis. He deserves to take a rest and just relax for a month.

J-man

i can't wait to see him at FO. i wonder how he will do on clay. he has the sort of game that would just seem pretty good on clay

x.doublea

He's more of a creative player though. I think he will do well at the US Open, but so-so at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

J-man

i think he will do better at FO then at wimbledon

x.doublea

Here are his results at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open in 2005:

Roland Garros- lost in the 1st round to Nalbandian
Wimbledon- lost in 1st round to Youzhny
US Open- lost in 1st round to Tursunov

I think it's to difficult to base his future results based on these results.

J-man

tough luck for him.

leftys_rock

yeah, lots of first rounders....but he reached the fourth round at the AO last year, so he was probably destined to do better there.....we'll see how he does at RG...

x.doublea

I think his showing at Indian Wells and Miami will also give us an idea whether he is here to stay.

leftys_rock

yeah, we can see whether that was a fluke or not.....

J-man

i can gurantee it wasn't a fluke Wink

leftys_rock

yeah, but we'll just see if he can make it deep at indian wells and nasdaq....

J-man

i really think he will.

leftys_rock

yeah....do u think last four or last eight or even last two??

x.doublea

I think he will make the R16 or the QF if he plays good, and the semifinals if he plays the way he did at the AO.

leftys_rock

yeah i would have to say that too....cuz those are kind of like little grand slams....theyre big titles.....

x.doublea

They are the biggest AMS tournaments.

leftys_rock

yeah, theyre kind of like the YEC, except for the YEC, only eight players can play.....but theyre similar that they are BIG titles.....

x.doublea

Both of them have 96 players in the Main Draw: this is second only to the grand slam events.

leftys_rock

yeah, GS has 128.....how many seeds are in pacific life and nasdaq??

x.doublea

Same as the Grand Slams: 32 seeds.

leftys_rock

ok thx.....but in nasdaq and pacific, there are byes right??

x.doublea

Yes, all 32 seeds get byes...that's why there are only 96 players. The 32 seeds play their first matches in the 2nd round, while the other 64 players have to play 1st round matches.

leftys_rock

ah yes, if u do the math, that works out....are they aired on tv?? i hope they are, it will get boring if the next televized tennis tourney is the FO.....

x.doublea

All the AMS tournaments are aired on TV...especially the North American ones.

leftys_rock

true.....most of the bigger north american tourneys are aired on tv....like all of the USO series was aired on espn.....

x.doublea

Canada only got the Rogers Cup and some of the Cincinnati Masters.

leftys_rock

oh....we got all of it on espn....and then there is whatever is local for u....and the GS....plus YEC.....

x.doublea

What times did they play the YEC? For us, they played it at times when no one would be watching.

leftys_rock

since a little of the womens and mens overlapped, they would usually show the mens right after the womens....and since i live in the same time zone as LA, it was just live....and it was around 1 in the afternoon....but when its moved to SPAIN, then im going to have a time difference problem....

x.doublea

ESPN's much better for tennis than TSN. I guess having two channels always helps.

leftys_rock

yeah....most of tennis is usually aired on espn2, not espn....and its sometimes aired on the big networks like nbc, cbs if its a GS......and the USO is always aired on USA...the final is on CBS though....

x.doublea

Yes. If I can remember correctly, the final of Indian Wells will be aired on ESPN and the final of Miami will be aired on CBS.

J-man

x.doublea

9 PM is a very good time to show tennis. That's usually when people are relaxing, so they can be flipping channels and notice something big's going on in tennis (such as the YEC).

J-man

i just was flipping through the channels and i past the tennis channel which i don't get Sad

and their watching the vina tournment LIVE

x.doublea

The Tennis Channel shows a lot of tournaments. The best thing about them is that they show a variety of sports. They don't just show tennis; they sometimes show badminton, ping-pong, etc.