Baghdatis makes sushi Nishikori

Straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. I do hope Sam Querrey makes it to the next round. We need revenge!

Memphis here we come!

First up is a 19 year old Japanese guy by the name of Kei Nishikori ranked 56th, about 30 places above us. If the script is right, he will be flying back to Tokyo soon, which brings us back to guess who... Sam Querrey, our nemesis.

Baghdatis squashed by Querrey

2 sets to 1, short stay in San Jose. Is this a return to Marcos’ familiar form? Off to Mephis.

Baghdatis at San Jose 2009

And so to the states. San Jose 2009 (aka SAP open) starts tomorrow with Marcos facing Sam Querrey the 8th seed. This guy, ranked 50 places above us (he is no 35 in the universe) beat Marcos less than a year ago at the Paris masters. Time for revenge?

Bye Bye SA

David Ferrer was the end of the road. Decent first set with decent service, but hopeless in the second. Final score: 7-5, 6-2. Onto San Jose next week.

Baghdatis cooks Klaasen on the braai

6-3, 7-5. Nice and sweet, Marcos advances to the quarterfinals. David Ferrer next. He is ranked 72 (!) places above Marcos and in 2006 beat him in straight sets, their only encounter to date. Despite this, Baghdatis is still second favourite (behind Tsonga) to win this tournament.

Baghdatis makes biltong out of Anderson

Yummy yummy.

Marcos beats Anderson 6-4, 6-2. First set was closer than one might have expected. Good result though,. Next up is Raven Klaasen another South African wildcard. Ranked 350th by ATP he should also be a matter of procedure. Careful though, he's just beaten Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in straight sets. And we all know how Marcos can mess these 'easy ties' up...

Baghdatis stays in the southern hemisphere.

Seeded 8th, due to our ranking, the South African Open should be an opportunity to earn some invaluable points. Eighty Fifth in the world is a bit embarrassing… we want single figures Marcos!

We kick off facing Andrew Anderson , ranked 1546th in the world ( I wander if he's a wildcard entry being a local). No surprise, it’s our first encounter. Come on Marcos, lets make some boerewors out of this guy. Last game today (Monday) on centre court.

I’m wandering, who will the South African Greeks be cheering on?

And Baghdatis shoots up the ATP rankings!

New week, new rankings, from 100th to 85^th; on the back of a decent start to the season. Bowed out of the Aussie Open losing to Djokovic in a tightly contested match (again). It is worth mentioning that Djokovic - on the back of this game - had to retire from his next fixture with Roddick the following day. One could argue then that Marcos knocked the no 3 in the world out of the Australian Open! For those who remember, it has happened before, during Wimbledon 2007.

Marcos’ 4^th round Australian Open points replace the ones he gained 12 months ago where he only reached round 3, so up the ranking he shoots. Next tournament is in Sout Efrika.

Serb Fans

The Serbs are nicking our trademark. What does this remind you of? And I thought we were the only ones to turn tennis into a football game. Mind you, the Serbs have 3 cracking players to cheer on.

But you know, that's what i like about the Australian Open. Laid back. You can cheer your player on without some British Legion octogenarian going all menstrual over it. Can anyone imagine that sort of atmosphere in Paris or Wimbledon? Fat chance. They have to be 'proper'.

I hate Australian time though. It sucks having to get up in the early hours to watch Baghdatis. Why cant they just play during daytime? Or perhaps around 7pm CET - so that I can watch it over my supper.

Baghdatis is picking up pace.

Söderling dispatched. Just about. It was looking very much a pending disaster half way into the game - 1 set down and trailing 5-4. But Marcos managed to turn it around to a 3-1 victory, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Don't want to tempt fate but Mardy Fish who follows tomorrow, should be just procedural. Which will bring us to a different Fish (or kettle of). Djokovic. Nuff said.

Baghdatis beats Benneteau

Marcos dispatched Benneteau with apparent ease. Bar the puke. 6-3, 7-6, 6-2.

Next up is Söderling, who currently ranks 16th and has been our nemesis three times to date. Scheduled as the last game on show court 2.

Baghdatis at Australia 2009

Marcos kicks off down under ranked 98th and facing Julien Benneteau, currently ranked 48th by ATP. He has beaten Marcos on both previous encounters but that was in 2006.

In an interview with the Age Marcos is quoted: "I feel happy being on court again : I feel fitter than ever".

Come on Marcos, make it 3 wins in a row. Australian Open here we come.

Baghdatis beats Cilic

More great news! We've beaten Marin Cilic in straight sets! (6-3, 6-2)

No mean feat my friends. He is no 20 in the world. Are we back, or are we back? Australian Open here we come.

Baghdatis beats Ljubicic

Great news! First time we've won in ages. Can anyone even remember the last time we won? I can't... it has been months!
I watched the first set, which was close, settled on a tie break. Marcos' service needed (a lot of) tweaking.

Ljubicic has become Marcos' whipping boy. Four wins vs 1 loss to date, even though Ivan is ranked a mind boggling 40 or so places above us. Unfortunately though i dont think this tournament offers any ATP points.

Baghdatis loses at AAMI

Marcos Baghdatis lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in his first game at the AAMI Kooyong Classic. Two sets to love, 6-2, 6-2. Marcos has a new haircut though...

I wander where Stanislas' sunrame comes from. He bats for the Swiss but his surname sounds Polish to me. Great player, no wander he's top 20.

Baghdatis Knocked Out In Brisbane

Not the best of starts to the year! 2-1 sets to Nieminen in round one. Next up is the AAMI Classic at Kooyong, Melbourne. It's an exhibition tournament though, no points up for grabs. Which means we must be out of the top 100 next week. The only way is up!

Baghdatis at Brisbane 2009

First round, vs Nieminen. All square (2-2) in head to head encounters, last match in 2007. Nieminen won that one and he is now 41^st in the world. A whopping 55 places above Marcos. Surely, we cannot past him, can we?

Hopefully this will be live on Eurosport.

Review of the 2008 season. Oh, Marcos Baghdatis, where art thou?

You know where I am going with this.

The year started quite well. Ranked 16^th, 2008 began with a memorable match vs Lleyton Hewitt in round 3 of the Aussie Open. And even though Marcos lost the match (in the early hours of the morning - perhaps the latest ever finish of a grand slam match), he seemed poised for major achievements.

But Baghdatis would be hampered by a back injury and other health concerns and only managed to compete in four events after Wimbledon, retiring in 3 of them. He posted just 14 match victories for the entire season and swapped 3 coaches. Baghdatis begins 2009 ranked 98^th and has been branded as one of this season’s Least Improved Male Player.

I have come across articles already referring to Marcos as a one-slam wonder. Oh, Marcos Baghdatis, where art thou?

Bagdatis' new coach

Coach no 3 for 2008 turns out to be Olivier Soules who works for Team Lagardere, a professional sports training agency that specialises in tennis coaching (but also does athletics if you have the cash). They are based in Paris and Sophia Antipolis (close to Nice) plus they have/had a few other (mainly French) celebrities on their books - such as Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Julien Benneteau, Nicolas Devilder, Nicolas Mahut...

I think Olivier Soules himself was a tennis player, in the late 80's but I will dig out his story (and perhaps some dirt too) later on. New girlfriend and a new coach! Way to go... I seem to have been out of the loop for too long - has Marcos turned the page?

Baghdatis' new girlfriend

Well, there's not much on-court action to talk about - there hasn't been much for yonks. So I googled about to search for any gossip on his personal life. A couple of discussion forums seem to suggest he is now dating another tennis player, from Luxembourg. Her name is Mandy Minella and this is her pic. Let us see if she can turn things around.

Didn't somebody once say "Change always comes bearing gifts"?

Baghdatis in South Africa 2009

Marcos has signed up to appear at the South African Open tennis championship to be held at Montecasino in Johannesburg from February 2 to 8 2009. It is mentioned that “he is hoping to re-launch his career” there. He is sure to have a good following there, through Joburg’s sizeable Cypriot Diaspora.

On the other hand, he has also registered to play at the Australian open, held from January 19 through February 1, 2009. Am I the only one noticing the discrepancies?

Baghdatis' current injuries

He has new or ongoing issues with his:

1. Wrist
2. Back
3. Ankle
4. Psyche ?
   

And he is only 23.

Baghdatis out of Metz

Metz should have been a walk in the park. In an interview on his arrival, he claimed to be in great form and hungry to get back on the circuit.

Disappointment again. One set up vs Ivo Karlovic in the first round and he had to retire through injury (not wrist, it's his back this time)

Baghdatis is not back just yet.

You know what gets on my tits? Marcos’ silence. OK you’re injured. Or you don’t feel up to entering a few tournaments. Or you want to take a holiday. Fair enough.

Just tell us dude. You have a website, just paste a short notice along the lines of “Shop closed for the summer, I’ll be back in 2 months”. His new website has been coming soon for over 6 months. Marcos is in danger of amassing more comebacks than Mike Tyson. Or Lazarus.

So just why did he drop out of the Orleans Challenger in the semis? No one seems to know, and soon, no one will seem to care.