Former Australian Open finalist set to retire at Wimbledon at the age of 34
When Marcos Baghdatis received the main draw wild card for the upcoming third Grand Slam of the season at Wimbledon, it could have only meant one thing! A few days later, the Cypriot who has just turned 34 announced the retirement from tennis at the All England Club, getting an opportunity to say farewell on the biggest tennis stage. Ranked outside the top-50 since April 2017, the charismatic player has decided to call it a career, unable to compete on the highest level anymore and eager to spend more time with his family. The winner of four ATP titles from 14 finals (the last one coming in Sydney nine years ago), Marcos had the opportunity to make a professional debut at home in Cyprus back in 1999 at the age of 14, battling for his place under the tennis sun and cracking the top-200 in 2003.
In 2005, Baghdatis lost to Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open (backed by a partisan crowd that cheered for him like he was playing in Cyprus or Greece) and established himself as a regular top-100 player, with much more to come in Melbourne 12 months later. At the age of 20, Marcos Baghdatis had the opportunity to play in a Grand Slam final, scoring incredible wins over Andy Roddick, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian before losing to Roger Federer in four sets. A few months later, Marcos was the semi-finalist at Wimbledon and had become world no. 8 just ahead of the US Open in that 2006. Plagued with injuries, Marcos never played on that level again, with his results going up and down in the next ten years or so, competing in only three ATP finals in the last eight years. Marcos claimed respectable 348 victories on the ATP Tour, 66 of those at Grand Slams and 45 at Masters 1000 events.
Also, he added 22 top-10 wins to his tally, battling against the rivals like Roger Federer, David Nalbandian, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro and Stan Wawrinka. The Cypriot has two daughters with a former Croatian player Karolina Sprem and he is ready to stay involved in tennis as a coach or maybe in his country's Davis Cup squad, defending the colors of Cyprus in 44 ties and winning almost 70 matches since 2000!
“This decision was not an easy one,” Baghdatis said. “It has proven tough for me, especially physically, to come back to where I feel like I belong. Even though my mind wants to do it, the limits of my body have prevented me from maintaining and playing at a consistently high level as I expect from myself. The last two years have been tough for me with recurring injuries and pain. I can’t wait to give it my all one last time in London. Although I am sad to say goodbye to the sport as an active player, I am very excited for the next chapter of my life – I am going to be staying heavily involved in tennis in several capacities, so you will continue to see me on the Tour. You made me feel welcome in every city and country I have ever been to, and your love, support and energy is something I will truly miss.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YgCx0B
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