Back in 2006, Marcos Baghdatis was the up-and-coming youngster on the scene, reaching the Australian Open final and later the semifinal at Wimbledon where he bowed out to Rafael Nadal. Ten years on, and the Cypriot has not fulfilled his early potential, but 2016 has seen him roll back the years in occasions, giving him strong confidence heading into his most productive Grand Slam.
Notable results to date
Baghdatis’ 2016 season began at the Australian Open, where despite putting up a strong effort, he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets in the opening round. A quarterfinal followed in Marseille, before his standout success from the current year, as he reached the final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. During that surprise run, he saw-off Viktor Troicki, Vasek Pospisil and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets, leading onto a three set battle over Feliciano Lopez in the last four. Stan Wawrinka proved just too much in the final, winning 6-4, 7-6 (13) in tense encounter.
Since then, three quarterfinal appearances in Houston, Halle and more-recently Nottingham have followed, setting him up well before the third major of the year.
Best grass results leading into Wimbledon
The Cypriot’s grass campaign got off to a poor start, as Jan-Lennard Struff defeated him 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. The loss added further importance to his impact in Halle, where he put aside the disappointment by stunning fourth seed Tomas Berdych in two tie-breakers and home favourite Dustin Brown, to meet another German Alexander Zverev. The 18 year-old won a titanic opening tie-breaker, seizing the momentum gained to capitalise and reach his first ever ATP 500 final. It was a much-improved showing by Baghdatis, who arrived in Nottingham as a player to watch out for.
The 30 year-old had semifinal points to defend from 2015, and put in a solid effort to make the last eight at Nottingham as Pablo Cuevas surprisingly edged their last eight meeting. Along the way, Baghdatis had beaten Evgeny Donskoy, before defeating big-serving Sam Querrey 1-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 in the third round.
Best result at Wimbledon
Baghdatis’ best ever result at Wimbledon came back in 2006 as he progressed all the way to the last four. Since then, he has only made the second week twice, and not once since 2008, despite making three third round exits.
He was seeded 18th during his most impressive run at SW19, and survived an early scare in the first round, by coming back from two sets to one down to defeat Brit Alan Mackin in five sets. He benefitted from a retirement when 3-0 up in the first set, before surprising two-time Wimbledon semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean in four sets. Current world number two Andy Murray was dispatched in comfortable straight sets, after the Brit had defeated third seed Andy Roddick in similarly-straightforward fashion. 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt was dumped out of the quarterfinals, as a young Baghdatis moved through to his second Grand Slam semifinal of the year with a 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory. An emotionally-draining two weeks finally caught up with the 21 year-old, whom missed out on a second slam final of the year as Nadal proved a hurdle just too big.
Another deep run followed the following year with wins over David Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko registered, but Novak Djokovic edged a five-set thriller which had seen the Serb throw a two set lead away. Since then, he has only reached the second week once, making the third round last year where he was sent packing by Belgian David Goffin.
How Baghdatis’ game translates to grass
The world number 40’s game equates well to grass, with plenty of shots in his arsenal effectively implemented on the quicker surface. His movement on grass is key to him having any success on it, often moving as if he was back in 2006 trying to make a name for himself. The serve had been holding up of late, and this will need to seemingly remain if he has hopes of progressing to at least the second week for the first time since 2008. The Cypriot is full of talent which means he can challenge the players at the very top, but he still remains erratic at crucial times, letting him down from winning any further titles and earning wins over the very best opponents.
Baghdatis’ most consistent Grand Slam remains Wimbledon despite the lack of second week action, and who’s to bet he makes it a happy anniversary since his semifinal appearance, by making a surprise deep run once again.