Marcos Baghdatis

It's thanks to my father, Christos, that I'm a tennis player. My mother, Andoula, didn't want that.
I began playing tennis at age five with my father and brothers.

My Father is originally from Lebanon and now owns a clothing store in Cyprus. My Sister was adopted when one month old.
My Older brothers played Davis Cup. Petros is now a tennis coach and Marinos is a mathematics professor at Dallas University in the US.

When I was 11 years old, I decided, tennis becomes much more than a passion for me.

I left my parents' house and went to live near the Nicosia Federation Center, so I could have a more professional training structure. Yiannis Hadgjieorgiou became my coach. Captain of the Davis Cup and Federal Coach, he trained me for 3 years and initiated me to the International Competition.

"At the age of thirteen and fourteen, I was the number one senior player in my country."

The Cyprus federation supported my career and encouraged me in my choices.
It helped me, but quickly, I realised it was time to leave Cyprus if I wanted stiffer competition.

It was during the "Petits As" tournament in Tarbes (France) that my agent put me in contact with Patrick Mouratoglou, the director of the first high level tennis academy in Europe. After a number of phone conversations with Patrick and a first visit to the center in the Paris suburb of Montreuil, a contract is signed with the Academy.

"It was a new life for me, far from my parents and friends."

I settled in quickly with my host family, "the Benhaim", who were very important to me. It was a long and hard adjustment.

2003 was the year I had my first really positive results.
The year ended in a blaze of glory with the title of Junior World Champion.
It was without a doubt the most important title of my tennis career. It gave me confidence and reassured me that I'd made the right choice by leaving everything behind (friends and family) to live my passion.

Ever since, I've been playing with the seniors. I won a challenger tournament in Spain, made a final in Basel.

In 2006, I reached the final in the Australian Open, the semi final in Wimbledon and I won the first ATP tournament of my career : Pékin.

At the beginning of 2007, I won my 2nd tournament in Zagreb and reached the final at the Open 13 (France).

I also received the honor as the 2006 Cyprus Male Athlete of the Year for my accomplishments.

"I'm now one of the top 20 players in the world.
I still want to give and take pleasure on the court  =  this is my aim."