Marcos Baghdatis, Μάρκος Παγδατής Options

[hellas719]

^For this tournament, yes. I expected more out of Marcos. They're careers are going in opposite directions. Marcos is going down and Eleni is on the way back up. Don't get me wrong, he's my favorite player ever and I watch his matches all the time and not just in the slams like most of you guys. But he was never a serious contender to win a major. During his peak, Federer and Nadal were miles ahead of him. Even roddick too.

I still have hope that he will get back to the top 10. He has showed signs of good form over the past few years but he's still inconsistent.

[hellas719]

How old is Eleni now? she had the tools to be anything 10 yrs ago but her serve was an absolute nightmare, still remember when she almost knocked out Capriati at the Oz Open in 2001....Capriati went on to win that title so just goes to show she wasnt far off the mark back then.

As for Baghdatis, the guy is purely for show these days, he will give you entertainment everytime he plays but when it comes to actually getting results he isnt up to it, a man of his talent should be in the 2nd week of all 4 majors but his concentration levels are disgraceful, i mean he wins the 3rd set yesterday and gets broken to love serving to open the 4th set in literally under a minute....that only happends to players that arent fully zoned in.

Her serve still is an absolute nightmare and that will never change. She's 29.

And I disagree. Marcos can still play amazing tennis and that is why he beat Federer and Nadal in 2010. That is why he almost beat Murray last Fall when Murray was in the best form of his career. He lost 7-5 in the third. Marcos will come back to the top 20 by the end of the year. Eventually top 10 I hope. He tries hard and is more focused now than when he was younger. He's just so inconsistent...

[SydneyOlympic57]

Please man making QF's SF's and making a final in '06 definitely means he was a contender.

I also follow his matches at ATP 250/500 events and at the Masters Series events and he puts up an excellent showing because they are best of 3 matches and he can go hard for the whole 3 sets

In Grand Slam tennis its best of 5 sets and in the last few years he struggles in long matches because i believe he's unfit, if he was as fit as Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Federer even as fit as David Ferrer he would have a chance in the Majors, he's still 26 so he has a bit of time

[greekleafs17]

^I don't think that's the case because several times he would lose the first two sets and win the third before losing the match. In a masters tournament, he would have lost already because it's best 2 out of 3, so I don't think it's his fitness although he could improve it. I think it's the mental aspect and confidence.

@hellas719, he was never at the level of Nadal or Federer in the sense of their consistency and how they can produce at the highest level year in and year out. But for one single year (2006), he was at their class. That's why he was top 10 and made the semi-final of Wimbledon which is the most prestigious tennis tournament and made the final of the Aussie Open where he still won a set against Federer.

[mikanos21]

Please man making QF's SF's and making a final in '06 definitely means he was a contender.

I also follow his matches at ATP 250/500 events and at the Masters Series events and he puts up an excellent showing because they are best of 3 matches and he can go hard for the whole 3 sets

In Grand Slam tennis its best of 5 sets and in the last few years he struggles in long matches because i believe he's unfit, if he was as fit as Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Federer even as fit as David Ferrer he would have a chance in the Majors, he's still 26 so he has a bit of time

2006 was a long time ago, such was his form back then many were predicting he could win all 4 majors in his career...a lot of players have gone past him especially ones that have emerged recently, on his day he can match it with the very best though.

This post has been edited by mikanos21: Jan 22 2012, 08:05 AM

[hellas719]

^i never thought he could win the French. He just isn't a good clay courter at all...

Please man making QF's SF's and making a final in '06 definitely means he was a contender.

I also follow his matches at ATP 250/500 events and at the Masters Series events and he puts up an excellent showing because they are best of 3 matches and he can go hard for the whole 3 sets

In Grand Slam tennis its best of 5 sets and in the last few years he struggles in long matches because i believe he's unfit, if he was as fit as Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Federer even as fit as David Ferrer he would have a chance in the Majors, he's still 26 so he has a bit of time

Well he was an outsider at slams, but I don't think many people talked about him. In 2006 his slam results were F,R2,SF,R2.

Yes he has time and it would be one of the best days in my life if he won a slam. I'd probably go crazy. For now it's just a dream though.

And I disagree about you saying he plays well at the Masters Series events. Last year he lost first match in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome, Cincinnati, and Montreal. He skipped Paris and Shanghai. The only match he won in a Masters Series event was the first round in Madrid, where he barely won. IIRC it was 7-6 in the third. And then he got destroyed by Nadal in the next round. I think he just needs better results in the Masters Series events and he would be top 20. Then he can get better draws in slams and keep moving up the rankings. His next tournaments are Zagreb, Rotterdam, and Dubai so we'll see how he'll do...

^I don't think that's the case because several times he would lose the first two sets and win the third before losing the match. In a masters tournament, he would have lost already because it's best 2 out of 3, so I don't think it's his fitness although he could improve it. I think it's the mental aspect and confidence.

@hellas719, he was never at the level of Nadal or Federer in the sense of their consistency and how they can produce at the highest level year in and year out. But for one single year (2006), he was at their class. That's why he was top 10 and made the semi-final of Wimbledon which is the most prestigious tennis tournament and made the final of the Aussie Open where he still won a set against Federer.

Exactly. If he was more consistent then he would've been right there with them. But he wasn't. I still can't believe he has never been past the second round of the US Open.

[mikanos21]

Marcos seems to thrive under the support he gets in Australia, thats why his matches here are usually epic enocunters.

As for him only going as far as the 2nd round at flushing meadows, maybe its because he doesnt get much support there? it appears as though the Greek community there dont support him, can honestly say i've never seen a greek/cyrpiot flag in the crowd when he plays there, then again you dont see any serbian/Croatian etc that you see in Australia....such a melting pot

[SydneyOlympic57]

You'd think that because of the amount of Greeks in New York and London, he'd get just as much support there as he gets in Australia

[mikanos21]

You'd think that because of the amount of Greeks in New York and London, he'd get just as much support there as he gets in Australia

yeh it baffles me they have enormous greek/cypriot communities, new york would just about rival melbourne....maybe he just hasnt caught on there? i think here he has remained popular because he made the final in 2006 and that made him well known to everyone in Australia, perhaps if his best result here was only 2nd round he wouldnt have that much support, who knows maybe hellas719 can shed some light on this.

[hellas719]

Well one thing is that he reached the final in Melbourne. I guess there are several different reasons. Tennis in general is way more popular in Australia than in the US. Can most Aussies name Hewitt, Stosur, Tomic, etc.? I've met Americans who don't even know the Williams sisters or Roddick. Some just say stuff like "the only tennis players I know are those black sisters". Even someone once said Serena and Vanessa Williams

I have seen a few Greek and Cypriot flags at the Us Open, but very rarely. I think this is also because the US Open banned flags, even though many people still sneak them in. I guess I can be blamed, since I live in NYC and have never seen Marcos. I go to the Us Open several times per year, and I have seen Daniilidou and Georgatou, but never Baghdatis. Every time he plays I can't make it. I started going to the Us Open in 2005, and started following Marcos in 2006. At the 2006 US Open I was on vacation for his first round, and couldn't make the second round. In 2007 Inwas planning on going second round, but he lost first round. He did not play in 2008 or 2009. He lost first round in 2010 and 2011 and I was busy both days and couldn't make it. I always wanted to get a group of guys for him, but I never had the chance. I tried for Georgatou in quailes, but the schedule didn't come out until the night before so it was last minute.

And there are tons of Greeks and Cypriots in NY, very similar to Melbourne and we have not lost our Greek culture, language, traditions, etc. Everyone pretty much knows who Marcos is, but I just don't know why no one cares to watch him. Every Greek person and their mothers were at the Ecuador friendly, but no one cares about tennis I guess. And there have been Serbian fans at the US Open in previous years. I've seen them chanting for Djokovic and Jankovic in person, which is surprising since I've only met two Serbs in my life. There are tons of Croats in NY, but I guess they don't care.

[mikanos21]

It also helps here in Melbourne that its school holidays, that allows a lot of the young kids to go, the popularity of the sport is also a good point, january here is all about tennis, where as when the us open comes around it doesnt get as much attention as other sports like baseball which dominate coverage. The Australian Open is the traditional "ethnic slam", first it was the swedes and croats that use to come out in numbers, then the greeks and serbs followed...well actually greek support here dates back to the Sampras days, its definately the most colourful of all the slams, granted i dont think you would ever see serbs and croats in new york trying to kill themselves like they did here a few yrs ago...even Djokovic said he was shocked ....ppl tend to be more fanatical here.

maybe Marcos needs a good run at the US for the greek community to take notice of him, by no means is it wrong that they dont come out for him, as you said maybe they just dont like tennis, would be nice to see if only so he can fire up and get a few wins there.

[hellas719]

Yeah I guess that's a big difference. I once read somewhere that tennis was voted the most popular sport by Australians. Something like how it was second most popular in every region of Australia but the most popular sports in each region were all different and tennis won the overall/popular vote. I'm not sure how accurate that was though. In the US, there is rarely any attention on tennis. Even during the US Open many New Yorkers don't even know it is going on. The NY Post usually has maximum 2 pages per day about the US Open. Football preseason at the same time gets minimum 5 pages per day. Baseball even more. The French Open and Wimbledon also get 1-2 pages. Sometimes the AO doesn't even get more than 3 paragraphs. No one talks about tennis on Sportscenter. During slams they just show like 5 minutes of highlights per day.

I saw all those Serb Supporters back in 2007. I was sitting right near them. There was a big group of them near me. Maybe 30, 40 of them. There were also a lot of Serbs scattered throughout the crowd. I know quite a few Greeks who play tennis and go to the US Open, but most Greeks couldn't care less and tennis isnt even considered a real sport by many Americans in general.

[hellas719]

Got to the semis last week in Zagreb and also won the doubles title there. Pretty good.

[hellas719]

Won the first round in Rotterdam but got injured and had to retire in the second round against Berdych. Hopefully it isn't that serious.

[hellas719]

Won his first match in Paris easily over Chela. I didn't see it ut he must've played well as Chela is an amazing clay courter and Marcos sucks on clay. I'm really proud of him. One of his best clay performances ever.

[adamosthegreek]

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/s...y10/1228ms.html

The Spaniard Almagro was too much for Marco in the 2nd round. Straight sets.

[hellas719]

Expected. Almagro is #12 and amazing on clay. He is now in the quarterfinals. No shame in that loss.

[hellas719]

Through to the 3rd round of Wimbledon without dropping a set! Playing Murray now, nothing to lose!!

[Demez]

Not to play Devil's advocate but one of those matches was 1 1/2 sets long. Still nice to see Baghdatis win more than 1 match in a row. Such a shame, has the skill just can't stay fit or consistent.

[molon_lave_2012]