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Post by getta on Feb 24, 2010 13:08:45 GMT -5
the following article discusses preparations at the Spyros Kyprianou stadium in Limassol where the next week’s Davis Cup tie against Egypt is going to take place.========================================================= www.cyprustennis.com/main/185,0,587,168-230210---TENNIS-COURT-INSTALLATION.aspx 23.02.10 - TENNIS COURT INSTALLATIONThe countdown to the tie has started and the Cyprus Tennis Federation has initiated all the necessary preparations needed to organise one more successful Davis Cup event for our country. The Decoturf tennis court has already arrived at the Spyros Kyprianou stadium and installation of the first ever indoor tennis court of Cyprus has begun. After the court is set, the necessary coating will take place which will also determine the required speed of the surface. Preparations will continue daily and a test event is planned for Sunday the 28th at 11:00 am. Doors to the public will be open during the Sunday's event.
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Post by christos on Feb 24, 2010 14:49:12 GMT -5
Interesting!
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Post by getta on Feb 24, 2010 22:09:51 GMT -5
www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/inside_sport.asp?xfile=/data/tennis/2010/February/tennis_February129.xml§ion=tennis&col=Devvarman Stretches BaghdatisRituraj Borkakoty
25 February 2010DUBAI — Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman wasn’t ‘too disappointed’ after losing his second round match to former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis. Somdev pushed the former world number 8 to the limit during his 3-6 6-3 1-6 defeat at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday. “I can’t be too disappointed from this tournament. I came here as a qualifier. I did well to do that and then played well in the first round. Obviously there are a couple of bright spots,” Somdev said after his second round match. “Obviously, he (Baghdatis) is a very good player. He has been in the top 10 in the past. “And I don’t think experience mattered a lot today. I think my execution was not up to the mark today.” The 24-year-old Somdev said he missed many chances against Baghdatis today. “In the third set also I think I had so many chances to break him. You know against good players you got to take those chances. “Even in the games that I got broken, I didn’t feel like I was outplayed. I played a couple of bad shots here and there. I made too many loose errors against a quality player. That’s how the match went. “Yeah, I played a pretty poor game in the first set. He served pretty well. But in the second set, I played some solid tennis.” Somdev, the main player in the Indian Davis Cup team, says there are many areas of his game that he needs to work on. “Yeah I am big critic of my own game. I care more about my game than you guys do. When I throw away chances, it bothers me a lot. I need to work on that because you work so hard to get those chances, so it’s disappointing when you fail to convert those chances. “I think I need to serve better as well. I served really well yesterday. Today I didn’t serve well in the third set. I served really well in the second. But I missed a couple of first serves that I should have made.” Somdev says matches against top players will help his game. “Yeah, it’s not the first time I have done that. I have played top guys quite a few times. I have got beaten quite a few times and had couple of wins as well.”
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Post by getta on Feb 25, 2010 5:21:44 GMT -5
Marcos gave an audio interview just after his second-round win over Somdev Devvarman, for which no transcript is available.
so, here's today's transcript. ===================================================================== wm.world.mii-streaming.net/media/atp/tournaments/dubai/2010/baghdatis3.mp3Q.: Marcos, you were struggling with food poisoning in your first-round match. How did you feel that today? Marcos: Not very good. I’m a bit, you know, without energy and a bit soft on court, not moving very well. I think I played the worst match of this year’s campaign, but I won it. So that’s the positive thing. So I cannot say too much but, you know, I hope I’ll feel much better tomorrow. Q.: Yeah, I’m sure you’d love to save energy to close it in two sets. You must be relieved at least that the third set was very quick. Marcos: Yeah, you know, I’m not tired because of the match, you know. I’m tired because I’m not eating for four days and staying in the room a lot, you know, not doing much. Feeling a bit sick but like I said I’ll try to feel a bit better tomorrow and try to get something in the stomach tonight, tomorrow all day and try to win tomorrow also. Q.: Seems to be a bit of strange week with few players struggling, and few players quitting as well… Marcos: Yeah, I don’t know if it is the food, different spice of our food or, I don’t know, I’m used to it because my father is Lebanese. So, when I go home he cooks very spicy stuff and with lots of spice, but I don’t know what’s going on. But for sure there’s something around. Q.: Do you think it might be a little bit of a problem off to the Australian Open, then two tournaments back in Europe, then coming back to the heat in Dubai? Do you think if that plays a part at all? Marcos: Can be. Can be a reason, but, you know, that’s the way it is. You know, you have to do that, you have to find solutions to win matches, to win tournaments and that’s our objective. Q.: Looking ahead to your quarterfinal in Dubai Championships. It’s against Michael Berrer, a player who this season reached the final in Zagreb and reached the top 50 for the first time. I’m sure under usual circumstances you quantify your chance against him, but it just depends on physically how you’re feeling. Marcos: Yeah, it depends on my physique, that’s for sure. But, you know, it’s Michael. I know him. I played him a couple of times, I practised with him a couple of times. He’s serving very good, he’s hitting the ball pretty clean when he feels good, so I have to go there in the court trying to find a way to win, trying to put the ball back if I feel fit. And, you know, I think I can find a way to win if I feel great.
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Post by getta on Feb 25, 2010 16:33:39 GMT -5
Marcos gave an audio interview just after his quarterfinal win over Michael Berrer, for which no transcript is available.
so, here's today's second transcript. ===================================================================== wm.world.mii-streaming.net/media/atp/tournaments/dubai/2010/baghdatis4.mp3Q.: Marcos, considering you’ve been unwell this week, did you feel that the first set was crucial if you’re to win the match? Marcos: I wasn’t worried. OK, it was important to win the first set, but I wasn’t worried too much because I was serving pretty good, you know, I didn’t have any break points on my serve, I had so many on his serve. So, you know, I was feeling I was on top. I was happy I won the tie-break. You know, I don’t want to fight back and win in three, but, you know, after the tie-break I kept on playing well and he couldn’t handle it anymore. He started making mistakes and giving free points and I kept the bottom court, played pretty good tennis and I’m very happy. Q.: You had some very vocal support out there tonight. Marcos: Yeah, they were great. You know, there are a lot of Cypriots living here. Also, some Lebanese. I’m half-Lebanese, my father is Lebanese. So, they came along too. So, it was nice. Q.: Coming to every match so far this week, you say you don’t know how you’re gonna to play because of the food poisoning. Just, how are you doing now? Marcos: Today I felt much better and I think I’ll feel much better tomorrow. Yesterday it was a tough day. I had a tough match, wasn’t playing very well, I was feeling very very weak. But last night I had drunk a lot, I slept. I mean drank not alcoholic drink, just you know… (laughter) And yeah, slept a lot today, I slept around 12 hours last night and today, so I was feeling pretty energised out there. Q.: So you’re feeling pretty good going to the semifinal. It’s against Novak Djokovic. How do you rate your chances? You have played him before, but he hasn’t looked on top form so far this week. Marcos: Yeah, I don’t know. I saw a bit of his match. Novak is a great player. You can say he won the important points, he’s playing his best tennis and that’s why he’s a great player. And, you know, I’m just enjoying my victory today and start talking about the match tomorrow with my coach, you know, and I’ll try to find a tactic to find the solution to win against Novak.
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Post by getta on Feb 26, 2010 22:15:49 GMT -5
www.tennistalkanyone.com/Thursday, February 25, 2010 In the 'Bagh'?It's a snowy day here in New York and my mind's wandering about the results at this week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. (I know, I need to get out more!) The tournament's been wracked by losses of top players to injury (Roger Federer and Andy Roddick) and upsets (Andy Murray and Marin Cilic). Three-fourths of the semifinal field is set with Novak Djokovic, Jurgen Melzer and Mikhail Youzhny through. The fourth spot will be filled by Marcos Baghdatis or Michael Berrer, who are going at it right now. And as my mind wanders further, I wonder if Baghdatis is on a return trip to the top 10? And if so, will he stay there? I thought that was going to be the case last year after he had a decent start to the season, but that old stickler, injuries, got in the way. He came on strong at the end of the season, winning Challenger after Challenger before taking the title in Stockholm. His good form continued into 2010 with a title in Sydney and an alright Aussie showing before injury reared up again. Now, here he is with a deep run in Dubai. And with the field so depleted here, who's to say he can't bring home the title? The clay season will slow him down, but when playing conditions speed up again, the ex-Wimbledon semifinalist should be in the mix. And perhaps a top 10 finish will be in the Bagh! (Get it? Like "in the bag" but I used "Bagh" instead, a shortened version of his name! OK, sorry for that. The cabin fever's getting to me!) (Photo: Getty Images)
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Post by getta on Feb 27, 2010 0:23:22 GMT -5
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article7043285.eceFrom Times Online February 26, 2010 Novak Djokovic fights back from the brink againBarry Flatman, Sunday Times Tennis Correspondent in DubaiNovak Djokovic isn’t conversant with many fat ladies that sing but he knows the match isn’t over until the umpire calls game, set and match. So the Serb’s supreme power of resilience has seen him through to the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and the chance to retain a title for the first time in his career. For the third time in as many matches the world No 2 was down but not out, wondering just how he was going to survive. But Djokovic is nothing if not a fighter and somehow he summoned up the determination to battle through and secure a place in the final against Mikhail Youzhny, the seventh seed. It was a match Djokovic will want to forget. He served ten double faults and offered Marcos Baghdatis 16 break-point opportunities in the initial two sets but still proved far the stronger player mentally. He looked to the heavens as he celebrated a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory in five minutes short of three hours. Djokovic was a set down and facing break points in the second set against Viktor Troicki, his Serbian compatriot. Much the same happened against Ivan Ljubicic in the quarter-final and Baghdatis was in the ascendancy as Djokovic again struggled to assemble his game. “It was an incredible struggle again,” admitted Djokovic, who will now be looking for revenge over Youzhny after losing to the Russian in the Rotterdam semi-final a fortnight ago. “For the third time in a row I’m fortunate to get through. “There is no excuse. I'm definitely tired. It's been a long week, but a final is a final and I have faced this kind of feeling and situation before in my life. It's ups and downs, and it shouldn't be happening at this level. Now I’m just focused on the fact I’ve never defended a title before. I want to do it now.” Baghdatis looked in control as he held a crucial break of serve in the second set and, even after allowing Djokovic to level, had three more break points to claim a 4-2 lead. Somehow the tournament’s top seed in Roger Federer’s absence managed to hold on but Baghdatis registered another break-point two games later only to blow the opportunity by hitting the simplest of backhands agonisingly into the net. The Cypriot, so entertaining when he reached the Australian Open as a rank outsider four years ago, has been plagued by injuries since. He is determined to recapture a place in the sport’s elite yet clearly has a problem with his concentration. Repeatedly he engaged Djokovic in long rallys and seemed to have the point won only to slam a basic unforced error either into the net or wide of the court. “I just don’t know what is going on in my head,” said Baghdatis, who was sufficiently focused to win the title in Sydney a week before this year’s Australian Open. “What can I say? I lost a match that I had in my hands. I'm really frustrated. I put him back in the game when I had him on the ground, and I should have kept him there.”
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Post by getta on Feb 28, 2010 1:18:25 GMT -5
Marcos gave an audio interview just after his loss to Novak Djokovic, for which no transcript is available.
so, here's the last transcript.Marcos ====================================================================== wm.world.mii-streaming.net/media/atp/tournaments/dubai/2010/baghdatis6.mp3Q.: Marcos, from a set up and having all those break points in the second set, how tough is it to take? Marcos: It is tough. I should have won this match in two and I didn’t take my chances and it’s a bit frustrating. I’m a bit frustrated. Q.: It was a strange match, wasn’t it? Neither of you two was able to dominate on serve. There were so many break points on either side. Marcos: Yeah, it’s true. We both returned very well. In the first set we were both stressed out, I think. I managed to, you know, win the first set and I was a break up in the second and, you know, it’s just I didn’t take my chances. I don’t know why. I don’t know. Q.: Considering how unwell you were feeling earlier in the week, couldn’t someone say that you’re going to reach the semifinal of Dubai Championships. Would you’ve taken up? Marcos: I don’t know. To tell the truth, I don’t know. I came to win the tournament and I was hoping to win it. I was feeling good, maybe I was thick but, you know, I’ve been working hard, feeling very confident, playing good, I won a tournament this year, played good in Rotterdam and Marseille even though I lost in the second round. I was feeling good coming here. So, like I said, I’m a bit frustrated I lost today to Novak and I don’t know. I’ll see how to work in the future, how to try, you know, to improve. Q.: But being so close to beat him and, as you mentioned, the good results this year so far, you must feel you’re getting back to your best after the injury problems you had in 2009. Marcos: Yeah, I’m getting back. Maybe not to my best, but I’m feeling good on court, confident, slowly slowly I think I’ll get better and that’s the goal, you know. I’ll continue working like that, continue being concentrated every day and try in every tournament, try to win it.
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Post by getta on Mar 4, 2010 20:05:26 GMT -5
a not-so-recent article from my archive. i kept it because it’s well written and it was only a matter of time to translate it from French into English. ================================================================ www.welovetennis.fr/cote-2010/18442-cote-n2-baghdatis-le-retourBaghdatis, the return?by Rémi Cap-Vert Tuesday, 29 December 2009, at 10:26We can sum up the season of Marcos Baghdatis as follows: seven months of anxiety, five months of hope. The Cypriot had already postponed his switching-on date, starting the 2009 season ranked No. 98 in the world. As the months were just passing by, things have gotten worse to such an extent that we saw Marcos dropping down to No. 151. Blame this on his constant battle against a series of injuries over the past year: ankle fracture, wrist fracture, herniated disc, only to end up with a sprained knee in 's-Hertogenbosch last June. Equally guilty for his decline: he’s gotten caught up in a negative spiral that reflected a lack of confidence throughout the first half of the season. He had a 12-14 win-loss record from January to July. Besides, an inability to make it to the second round of any tournament for 5 months. A sunray that streamed through the dark storm: fourth round at Melbourne Park, the scene of his surprising results in past years. And then, at a challenger in Vancouver the trigger is pulled. As Arnaud Clement said, firing a shot after shot at whomever his opponent was, it was the best way to gain confidence. In Canada, Marcos – a player just coming back to tennis after a series of injuries - beat five players ranked beyond the top 200 and won his first title of the season. A challenger title, but nonetheless he had to take it. The whole dynamic changes and gives Baghdatis lift-off to battling in other areas. Title in Saint Rémy-de-Provence, title in Tashkent… And on top of all of that, an incredible success, he triumphed an unexpected result at the Stockholm Open. A true revival, a first ATP title for two and a half years. Finally, he had a 23-4 win-loss record in the second part of the season and a constant value accounting, if any: his ability to recover and regain his lost power on precise moments, well ranked players are wary of his threat. Robin Söderling, Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mardy Fish…Big names have been added to his list of successes despite tough (start to the) season. Ready to step out the new season with new hope for fresh start, Marcos Baghdatis, strengthened after having overcome those difficulties, is confident. “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.” The Nietzschean cliché has been confirmed and the Cypriot has to move fast. “I can make a comeback very soon up there”, he recently told the sports columnists. “There is no good reason not to enter even the top 5! I think that there is room for me, even if there is just perhaps less space than the period where we were seeing no one else but Federer and Nadal.” Defining such an ambition and carrying the momentum he picked up at the end of the season, we can only hope for a quick return to the top 30, then the top 20, then… The ambition is there, the motivation as well, to an extent that it gives him the pleasure of playing tennis for many years to come: “I want to maintain my fitness levels for another seven-eight years ahead of me.” Without a (clothing) sponsor, with the Cypriot flag stuck on his heart, Baghdatis is well equipped to see the light. Alongside Eduardo Infantino, his coach since Roland Garros, he has refreshed his spirit, and started showing off again his consistency, his physique and his technique, and especially his extremely lively rhythm that delighted us three years ago. For these reasons, Marcos, we believe in 2010.
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Post by getta on Mar 4, 2010 20:13:28 GMT -5
and another one gone... also, from French into English. =================================================================== www.sports.fr/cmc/tennis/200951/baghdatis-je-peux-revenir-tres-vite-la-haut_258608.html14/12/2009 at 16:02 By Régis AUMONTBaghdatis: “I can make a comeback very soon up there”Before flying to Argentina at the beginning of December for two and a half weeks of training, Marcos Baghdatis spoke to us. The Cypriot, hampered by injuries the last two years, hopes to quit Paris soon to return to his home island. The former student of Mouratoglou academy, whose ranking had fallen to No. 151 last summer before his return in the top 50 (No. 42), has high ambitions for the upcoming season. Since his final at the Australian Open in January 2006, which remains heretofore unparalleled, many things have changed. The Cypriot became popular that year, his empathy and generosity on court have attracted many fans, and was able to confirm his place by ending the season at the gates of top 10 (No. 12) after having made a passage there for three months reaching the No. 8 in mid-August. Three years later, that’s not the case anymore. It must be said that luck didn’t treat the 24 years young man right in recent months. “I had an ankle fracture at Indian Wells in 2008, a wrist fracture in Toronto, a herniated disc in Metz always the same year, then to top it all a sprained knee in s'-Hertogensbosch last June”, he promptly rattled off. Nothing less! The string of injuries coincided with his departure from Patrick Mouratoglou academy, in the Yvelines countryside, where Baghdatis in his early teens at the time attended his classes. The break-up left shadows behind. “I don’t feel connected to Mouratoglou anymore”, said straightforwardly. “This academy was part of my life. For me it was a family, not business. When I realised that they didn’t have the same feelings for me, I was blown away. It hurt me but now I take my look ahead.” Then an abortive attempt to approach the Team Lagardère, “I wanted to keep my staff but it was not possible”, the Cypriot was determined not to play anymore a part in the network system, which nevertheless allowed him to “make friends on the circuit, which is not always obvious.” “I will play with the flag of Cyprus on my clothes”Coached by the Argentine Eduardo Infantino, Baghdatis now shares his life off court between Paris, where he still resides, Cyprus, where he wants to settle down permanently, and also Argentina, where he is right now and until this December 23, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, at Pilar, where he attends intense training sessions. “Eduardo is a hard worker”, confesses the greatest ambassador of sport in Cyprus. “He built a team of people around me. I know he is going to boost my career. I need this type of entourage.” The mayonnaise is ready to serve. Having been forced to pass by the Challengers circuit last summer, where he captured three titles, Baghdatis, dropped down to No. 151 in August, ended up winning Stockholm, his first tournament of ATP Tour for over two years. A title that allowed his return to top 50 (No. 42). “I wanted to finish the season in the top 70 to be able to make the main draws without having to request wildcards”, he said. Objective accomplished, has already cleared his schedule. “After the Australian tour, I’ll play Rotterdam, then Marseille or Memphis, Dubai, the Davis Cup, Indian Wells and Miami.” A very heavy first quarter but it suits the boy’s rising ambitions. “I can make a comeback very soon up there. There is no good reason not to enter even the top 5. I think that there is room for me, even if there is just perhaps less space than the period where we were seeing no one else but Federer and Nadal. Let’s say that there are six, seven guys who play great, who push Roger and Rafa to their limits. But I want to maintain my fitness levels for another seven-eight years ahead of me.” Being puffed up, the Cypriot obviously wants to exact revenge on the fate that continues to plague him lately. Less exposed to the media, he has not renewed his contract with his sponsor, the famous three stripes. Therefore he, as of January 1, will not be sponsored. “I will play with the flag of Cyprus on my clothes”, he announced proudly. “I have no financial worries and I know they will come back if I start playing well again.” Baghdatis believes in himself, the best way not to live in the past.
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Post by getta on Mar 5, 2010 1:31:07 GMT -5
i can't fit easily into a one-shot game, i like it when it lasts longer. also, from French into English. ============================================================== www.liberation.fr/sports/0101614300-a-melbourne-marcos-baghdatis-court-apres-son-passe18/01/2010, at 00h00Marcos Baghdatis in Melbourne, it’s all about chasing his pastBy ELISABETH PINEAUBaghdatis cruised to his fourth career title when he beat Gasquet 6-4 7-6 in the Sydney final on Saturday. Not enough to make him favourite to win the Australian Open which began last night. But, having been hampered by injuries for two seasons, the Cypriot resurrected at the right time. Now, due to a burst of confidence, he can deal with the tournament where he emerged four years ago. In 2006, the Australian public discovered an uncontrolled unshaven young man who battered Stepanek, Roddick and Nalbandian into submission, only to bow in the final against Federer. Despite this defeat in four sets against the No. 1, the fans have made him their chouchou, attracted by his charisma, his enthusiasm and his cosmopolitan nature (he was born in Cyprus, son of a Lebanese father and a Cypriot mother, and trained near Paris at that time). After this Australian epic, he finished convincingly the two following seasons at No. 12 and No. 16. Then he almost disappeared from radar screens. Absence. The loose body (ankle, wrist, knee). The poor morale. Several months of absence from the tour, watching his ranking in free-fall (No. 151 in July). “It was partly my fault”, he admits. “I didn’t hire the right people in the right jobs to avoid injuries.” After his brief adventure in Team Lagardère, then in Las Vegas with Gil Reyes (Agassi’s former trainer), he finally found the appropriate “fit” between his personality and that of his new coach, Eduardo Infantino (the Argentine coach who took off Nalbandian to the Wimbledon final and coached Del Potro). “He’s a very scrupulous coach, who hired highly professional staff, including a fitness coach, a physio and a sparring partner. This is new for me”, he said. Tennis has become so physical that I needed this type of entourage. Also, I need a family standing behind me because I’m all alone on tour and I haven’t any association, so it’s hard.” To climb up the rankings ladder, Baghdatis, 24, had no other choice but to pare his options down by playing “small” tournaments. Anxious, but beneficial. “When you’re playing in not really awful conditions, you fight, you gain confidence and you become mentally stronger.” «Top 5». By the end of October, just a few weeks after his return to the courts, Baghdatis wins his third title in Stockholm and returns to the top 50. “It’s a fresh career start. Today, I enjoy playing. I can imagine myself retiring at 33, 34. I want to do so many things. I look towards my long-term goal, entering the top 5.” Without a sponsor, his contract with Adidas has not been renewed. The Cypriot is wearing a t-shirt bearing the colours of his country. A country where he would like to have his own training facilities. “I’m trying to switch gradually. I got tired of making sacrifices. I want to have my family with me, to play cards with my friends, to have a normal life.”
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Post by getta on Mar 8, 2010 12:52:33 GMT -5
today’s short article on Marcos published on the Cypriot internet-based news portal Sigma Live.
it’s been translated from Greek into English and adapted by myself. ================================================================ www.sigmalive.com/sports/tennis/cyprus/245615“Compete with the best”08/03/2010 By Argyris Argyrou After having done his duty in helping the national Davis Cup team to get the win, Marcos Baghdatis leaves today for the States, en route to advancing his own career. The first Masters Series Tournament begins at Indian Wells on March 11, to be followed by Miami, beginning on March 24. Our champion’s goal is to pick up as many (ranking) points as possible, but he gives greater importance to playing against the top 10 players in order to increase his knowledge of, and provide experience that is necessary to compare himself to them. “I want to have a good run in those two tournaments and my objective is to pass the first two or three rounds, only to meet again with the top 10 players. These matches will provide the experience of competing with them and will also help me to be used to play against them, so that I might win. I want so much to meet again with Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, because only then I will be able to make progress towards my goals. But, first I need to be consistent and concentrated on playing my first matches to get past my opponents and I think that only if I come across the best players often, I will be able to handle them. I hope to be well and do what is necessary to leave the States after racking up 200-300 points”, Marcos Baghdatis said, who also answered our question on his new match approach, to try to get every ball and avoid the high risk shots. “The level of my physical condition allows me to do this. I know that I’m very fit and there is no reason to look in hurry to finish the point fast. My timing is better and it’s much easier to control the ball well. Since I’m in a very good physical condition, playing both defence and offence and hitting all types of shots while trying to win comes naturally. I feel confident and think that my best years are ahead of me and have the strong ambition to achieve something great. I feel like I can do that. Besides, I love my job. I love to eat tennis, to drink tennis, to wake up next to tennis , to sleep with tennis .”
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Post by getta on Mar 16, 2010 17:20:41 GMT -5
tennisworld.typepad.com/thewrap/2010/03/marcos-baghdatis-and-the-end-of-tennis-history.htmlMarcos Baghdatis and the End of Tennis HistoryBy Steve Tignor 03/14/2010 - 9:00 PM It’s tough on the ATP these days. So tough, according to 24-year-old Marcos Baghdatis, a seven-year veteran of the tour, that he couldn’t even spare the few minutes of sleep it would have taken for him to stay up and watch the infamous Hit for Haiti on Friday. “I watched the women,” Baghdatis says, “but I couldn’t make it later. I wish I would have seen it, though,” he adds with a broad smile. “It sounds nice. Pete and Andre had a good fight!” Baghdatis played his cards right, because he needed all of his energy today to escape the first set against Arnaud Clement. The two of them were first up this morning at 11:00 A.M. sharp on Stadium 3, a modest gem of a venue out near the spot where the courts run smack up against dry land. Baghdatis is ranked No. 33 and the veteran Clement a surprisingly lowly No. 76 at the moment. The motoring Frenchman may be 32 years old, but judging by the way he was hitting and moving for the better part of an hour and a half today, it’s hard to believe there are 75 better tennis players in the world. But there are. “Look how good the guys are today,” Baghdatis says, raising his arm but keeping the smile intact. “There’s no space between most of them.” There isn’t a whole lot that separates the men stylistically these days either, a fact that was amply demonstrated by this match. No tennis fan would ever say that Baghdatis and Clement were similar players, or even in the same genre. The Cypriot has a reputation as a streaky shot-maker with an equally streaky work ethic. The Frenchman is a smooth, steady undersized defender. But if you knew nothing of tennis-player classifications, you might have thought they were twins [non-identical] who had the same game drilled into them by the same coach. Each hit their forehands with a moderate loop and moderate topspin. Each used a compact backswing on their relatively flat two-handed backhands. Their shots were low-trajectory and medium paced, they stayed away from big cuts, they rarely aimed for the lines, they used a slice as a change-of-pace but not as an approach, and when the score got tight, they got tight and played even safer. After 90 minutes in the peaking heat, after many long games and multiple break points, Baghdatis won the set because on a minuts. Luck was what separated them in the end. “It was a little bit of a minuts,” Baghdatis says, nodding guiltily. His command of the nuances of English is much better than I remembered. “But it was a great point, and it got me the set.” The point he’s referring to came when he was down 5-6 in the tiebreaker, which, because these guys had put so much into the set, had the feel of a match point. Baghdatis and Clement played tighter and safer than ever, placing the ball back into the middle of the court—they were guiding it rather ripping it—before slowly getting a little riskier from there. It ended when Baghdatis shanked, just slightly, a forehand down the line. The crowd gasped when it heard the sound of the ball off his strings/frame, thinking it was going to fly long. But it didn’t, and Baghdatis eventually won the breaker 9-7. But Baghdatis is taking it. “These are the kind of matches my coaches and I have focused on winning,” he says. “I’ve been consistent in the early rounds, and that’s the first goal.” Baghdatis has suffered injuries over the years, but he has been playing full-time for seven months. He’s won a title this season, in Sydney, but he seems more focused on the week-to-week. “I need matches most of all,” he says. “I need to beat the guys in the first rounds so I can start to test myself against the better guys, and then take the next step after that.” How did Baghdatis, a former No. 1 junior in the world, Australian Open finalist, and Top Tenner, come to have such modest goals? There were the injuries, yes. And yes, there was some less-than Spartan training over the years; he's still built more like a halfback than a tennis player. But Baghdatis might not have fallen quite so far if the tour hadn’t become more about physical strength, speed, and stamina at the same time. “Since 2006, the tour has changed so much,” he says, referring to his breakthrough season. “Players are so much stronger, the style is much tougher, the courts are slower, nothing is easy.” His last point, that the courts are slower, has long been cited as a primary reason for the demise of the creative and the rise of the safe and solid in men’s tennis. And a turn around the grounds at Indian Wells, which may own the very slowest hard courts on tour, is powerful proof of this thesis. As much as commentators talk about how the players should learn to move forward more, to add a net game to their arsenals, it’s the guys who have moved back recently, the guys who have solidified what they already did well, who have prospered. Andy Murray won today while playing deep in the hinterlands behind the baseline. In the last year or so, he has reached his highest ranking while playing some of his most defensive tennis. Last night Novak Djokovic did the same. This season, the Serb has played more passively than ever, forgoing his famous change-of-direction down the line forays. And like Murray, he’s been successful with it. Gael Monfils, someone with the height and wingspan of a born serve-and-volleyer, spent his loss today even farther from the net than Murray or Djokovic. For the last year or so, Andy Roddick has followed the same formula and lost no ground. The list, as you know, goes on. The guy at the top of that list, Roger Federer, still embodies tennis creativity, but what has his signature macro-tactical shift been since he first won Wimbledon in 2003? To come to the net less often. Is this, as the now-disproven cliché once went, the end of men’s tennis history? Has the old dialectic between baseline play and serve and volley, been resolved in favor of the safe and solid, in favor of the return of serve, in favor of the two-handed backhand, in favor of the tall and rangy and reliable, rather than the risky and the brilliant? Will even the dictating forehand, which is slowly seeming less crucial than all-around competence, also go the way of the slice approach. Like I said, it turned out that there was no end to history, and there will be another John McEnroe, another genius with a one-handed backhand who upends the consensus of what can win on a tennis court. Federer has shown what's possible with the power-baseline game. I await the player who shows us what can be done with something different. But I have trouble picturing him. As for Baghdatis, his win today has given him what he wanted. He'll face a first-tier player, named Roger Federer. He might want to be careful what he wishes for in the future.
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Post by getta on Mar 17, 2010 2:50:23 GMT -5
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article7064946.eceFrom Times Online March 17, 2010 Roger Federer refuses to push the panic button after defeat to Marcos BaghdatisNeil Harman, Tennis correspondent, Indian Wells, California Joy unconfined: Baghdatis revels in his victoryHe knelt and kissed the spot where the ball’s trail carried it beyond the baseline – neither had Marcos Baghdatis enjoyed a sweeter victory nor Roger Federer, the world No 1 allowed three match points to slide by in a tournament of such prestige. He had two in the glorious Rome final of 2006 against Rafael Nadal, suffered a painful loss and went on to win both Wimbledon and the US Open later that year. "The season is long, there’s no need to panic,” he said. Panic on hold. The 24-year-old Cypriot who reached his highest height when he got to the final of the Australian Open final five years ago – he won the first set against Federer but ran out of steam in the third and fourth – has since been attempting to put together enough victories to establish himself back inside the top ten where he rested in mid 2006. The surge of adrenalin from this 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 success in the BNP Paribas Open may well last a long time. To signify his first victory over Federer after he managed to win only two sets in the first six attempts, Baghdatis held up seven fingers at the end of a match which, if it dragged the fans only occasionally from their seats at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, contained enough passages of extreme hitting to merit acclaim. “Maybe I was too passive at critical moments,” Federer said. “I would have liked to have played more competitive matches here but I guess I’ll have to play plenty of practice sets between now and Miami.” Baghdatis thought that Federer may have paid the price for being overly aggressive. We all see these things differently. Federer has been at the top of the game for so long because when the occasional speed bump has come along, he has been able to right the vehicle pretty smartly. You could tell from his pained, wan expression that this one really hurt but he had not played in six weeks since his Australian Open triumph over Andy Murray and suffered from bronchitis in mid-February, which ruled him out of the Dubai tournament where he usually excels. Even a player of his innate skills cannot be certain that they will be at his beck and call permanently. His mis-hits are just so much more vivid than anyone else’s. But praise the bustling Cypriot for the way he traded big blows, did not buckle at the moments of crisis and excelled in the final set tie-break, the clincher of which was a forehand crosscourt drive off a full-blooded Federer forehand which the Swiss could only parry into the net. In his opening match here, against Victor Hanescu of Romania, Federer struggled for rhythm enough to allow Hanescu the first set he had won against the Swiss in five matches. There were glimpses of the Federer vintage, more in the quality of his defence than in attack, but Baghdatis refused to concede ground – saving the first of two match points in the ninth game of the second set and the third when Federer’s backhand slid wide at 5-6 in the third. “Why do you want to analyse the tie-break, because I should never have been in the tie-break,” Federer said rather testily. “I used up too many chances and that comes back to haunt you. But he hung in there, obviously, otherwise he wouldn’t be there. It wasn’t the worst match, conditions are quick, it’s tough to return, I did a lot of good things but also many bad things.” Federer, who was seeded to be Andy Murray’s semi-final opponent, will now have to re-group in Miami, the scene of racket-smashing frustration a year ago (from where he went on to win the French Open, Wimbledon and reach the US Open final). Baghdatis will play Tommy Robredo of Spain, the No 18 seed, in the last 16. “[This is] the best win of my career,” Baghdatis said. “I am so very happy. A lot of emotions run through your head and it’s such a relief to win a match like that after being down so far.” This time last year, he was playing challenger events, winning three of the second-string titles and playing in far-off lands like Uzbekistan where, he said, it was demoralising to have to play but it was a hurt he had to endure if he wanted to enjoy the moments like the one he experienced last night.
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Post by getta on Mar 17, 2010 8:45:25 GMT -5
www.gototennisblog.com/2010/03/17/indian-wells-report-day-7-roger-federer-loses-to-marcos-baghdatis-and-some-other-stuff/Indian Wells Report Day 7: Roger Federer loses to Marcos BaghdatisBy reakyfrites | March 17 2010Roger Federer lost to Marcos Baghdatis in the third round of Indian Wells on Tuesday evening: 7-5, 5-7, 6-7(4). Roger squandered two match points in the second set. He was up a break in the third. And he had a match point before the third set tiebreak! Unfortunately, Roger also had 46 unforced errors (to 41 winners.) Roger played some extreme tennis in his two matches in the desert, his first since winning the Australian Open. Like the desert, itself, he was either blazing hot or dark and cold. The sun set early on his hopes for a title here, but – as the players say – sometimes you learn more from the losses than the wins. Tuesday evening reminded me of one of the key things that makes Roger Federer Roger Federer: He always plays to win, even if it means spraying his forehand and netting backhand after backhand. And it usually works for him in the big moments, such as his come-from-behind win vs. Tommy Haas at last year’s French Open. When it doesn’t work out, we’re still treated to those thrilling moments when Roger follows a couple ugly shanks with a breathtaking inside out forehand or an ace followed by a gravely “Come On!” Check out the 10th game of the third set last night. (If all this doesn’t work for you, repeat after me: “ At least it’s not Wimbledon, at least it’s Baghdatis.”) Both Roger and Marcos thought it came down to being passive/aggressive on court, though they assigned the roles differently (via ESPN): Roger Federer: “I just couldn’t find the way to win. I was maybe one shot away, maybe wrong choices at the wrong time, maybe playing too passively.” Marcos Baghdatis: “ Roger was a bit too aggressive. He was missing a lot of balls. I was more calm than him.” Marcos wasn’t so calm after his win over the world No. 1, his first in seven tries “Seven is my lucky number,” he said. (via bnpparibasopen.com) Federer fans aren’t too jubilant after Tuesday night, but it’s hard not to smile at this reaction from Marcos: “ Best win of my career. I think that says everything. I cannot say I’m not happy. I’m very happy. A lot of emotions are going through right now. It’s the best win of my career. I lost a lot of matches against those top guys, and it’s a relief to win a match like that after being out for two years, having some tough moments. It’s a great moment for me. I’ll try to enjoy it.” Here’s more from Federer’s press conference, which was a less festive affair: “It was one of those matches where you play well most of the time, and don’t play well when you really have to. . .It’s a pity.“ (via The Sydney Morning Herald) But Roger’s not beating himself up: “It’s a very fine line. That’s why I don’t like to beat myself up too much after a match like that. You play good most of the time and then you don’t play so well when you really have to.”
“I just couldn’t find the way to win. I was maybe one shot away, maybe wrong choices at the wrong time, maybe playing too passively.” (Actually, Rog, you were one shot away – three times!) And let’s not even talk about the tiebreaker, okay? “I should never be in a breaker, so why analyze the breaker?” (quotes via ESPN)
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