Wimbledon 2025 could be Djokovic’s last claims former Top 10 star
Marcos Baghdatis, the charismatic Cypriot from Limassol, who reached world number 8 on the ATP tour during his exciting counter punching career speaks with Tennishead about his idol Andre Agassi, what it was like to face the big four and why 2025 could be the Wimbledon ‘swan song’ for Novak Djokovic.
Baghdatis also shares his thoughts on Emma Raducanu’s harassment, Jannik Sinner’s doping ban, the rise of Jack Draper and ‘having breakfast’ with Nicole Kidman.
Are there any active players that resonate with your personality? …
Carlos Alcaraz. He smiles and interacts with the crowd. I think he kind of enjoys it, you know … I’m a people’s person, I need energy from the crowd. Alcaraz is also a people’s person.
On tennis idol Andre Agassi…
In 1992, I was 7yrs old, the first ever tennis matched I watched on TV was Andre Agassi vs Goran Ivanisevic (at Wimbledon) and I actually wanted to change my name to Andre Agassi after that match! He inspired me so much, made me wanna feel the same.
and playing against him in his last career win …
I remember a lot of sadness .. it was such privilege and honour to play against a person you idolise, not only throughout your life, but your career. I was playing against 23,000 people in Arthur Ashe Stadium (at the 2006 round of 16 US Open ending in 5 sets at midnight), it was a crazy atmosphere.
After the match, it’s me and Agassi lying down in the physio room watching the highlights of the match, we turn to each other and hold hands. It was an awesome experience, but it hurt.
That late match with Leyton Hewitt at the 2008 Australian Open …
The matches went on for so long beforehand, so we decided to go on court late (11:52pm and finished at 4:34am). Leighton was ahead 5-1 in the 4th set and throws in a double fault at match point.
I start laughing, not caring anymore and playing more aggressive. All of a sudden you turn the match around and in the 5th set … it was a tough 6-3 final set loss, but a good one. When I went back to the hotel, Nicole Kidman was coming down to breakfast!
Competing against the big four Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray …
It kind of destroyed my career! I played in a generation or era where you have Federer, Nadal, Novak and on top of that Murray in the finals all the time.
It’s pretty tough, but I always say it’s a privilege to be able to share the court with some of the greatest players in the world that ever played the game by far and they were phenomenal. Especially Novak for me, it’s something incredible. I think when I played against him, you felt that there is no solution. You try to open a door, he always closed it. With Rafa and Roger, they always kept the door open, but found a way to close it at the most important moment. They were exceptional.
With Roger and Rafa when I beat them in 2010, they asked me what changed, and I said shit happens!
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What makes Novak Djokovic The GOAT?
He is more complete than the others, tennis-wise also … I think Djokovic will go for his last Wimbledon this year. I think that is his goal. Having Murray behind him is one of the reasons to get the crowd with him. I don’t know, but when Novak aims for something, most of the time he gets it.
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On Andy Murray …
I grew up with Andy and we played each other in the juniors … he was still young (when I first played him at Wimbledon R16 in 2006). I don’t think people expected anything at the time. He just beat Andy Roddick.
He had the pressure for the press, but not from him being number three in the world and everybody wanted him to win.
What is you most memorable on and off-court moment? …
Match point off the semi-finals of the Australian Open vs Nalbandian when I hit an ace down the T. That feeling was like a feather … everything comes out and you have nothing left inside you. It was the best feeling.
Off-court was being the flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics. I think as an athlete that is the best achievement you can have. For me, that was a really big moment.
On the rise of Jack Draper …
He is improving. What I like about Jack is every year he is get better and better. He’s getting better results in tournaments, more consistent and he’s still young. Yeah, he has a long way to go but he is slowly, slowly going up there.
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Thoughts about Jannik Sinner’s doping case? …
I definitely think WADA is not handling things correctly or they are not treating everybody the same way we see things, but it’s not up to me to say how they should handle it. But, it wasn’t clear. I don’t understand … we are talking about a sports ban and there is a settlement.
Is tennis currently engaging enough? Does certain rule changes need to be made? …
Listen, it’s a tough thing. Because if you change something, then you go against the history of tennis. So let’s say we do a shorter format. The problem there is that you will not get all these crazy five hour matches.
So the product is different. It’s the same thing with Grand Slams, five sets is too much, but if you change it to three, then you don’t have those historical matches. I think we need to decide which direction we want to go.
It’s very difficult to have everything. Not everybody can be happy, the audience, the TV rights, There’s so many things. It’s not black and white. There is a huge grey area.
In my opinion, and I say it as my opinion, what I would do if I had the keys to everything (which I don’t!) it would be no third or fifth set ,but if there was a tiebreak until 10 my adrenaline, like, the excitement (Baghdatis says whilst clicking his fingers). I’m telling you as a fan now. I would still be excited and in the Grand Slams, the same.
The reason why I’m saying that is because I watched last year a match on TV with Carlos Alcaraz and Tommy Paul in Cincinnati. It was 7-6 for Alcaraz, and it was 5-5 in the second set and the match was incredible. Tommy Paul wins it 7-6. One set all. I then switched off the TV.
On finding a good balance between the physical and mental demands of tennis …
It’s all mental. t’s finding the balance, like everything in life, it’s finding the balance of enjoyment and being tough. That’s why I think it’s very important to have the right people around you, to remind you that it’s OK, you’ve done everything.
Do you have any routines or superstitions? …
I wouldn’t step on the lines and I would take two balls each from the ball kids. Routines are important. I did have a lot of them!
In my academy now, the kids we have, we are trying to implement routines for them, these are the most important things. Routines keep you in the present. So if you don’t have superstitions … why did Rafa Nadal adjust his bottles? it’s not because it is crazy! it made him stay in the present moment.
Talking about injuries, harassment, depression and retirement …
There was a moment in my career, injuries, life in general, a bit of depression too. Tennis is a very tough sport.
I believe 95% of tennis players have depression sometimes in their life or in their career … with social media, harassment – we see what happened to Emma Raducanu in Dubai. I think we should not hide from it. We have to take action and responsibility to help the players.
Mentally it hurts a lot, you know? every week you’re a loser. Even if you play a final or a semi-final or you have a good moment, you’re a loser to many people and it can hit you hard sometimes.
I decided to enjoy more and have fun and it gave me another 2/3 years and then … I retired (after Wimbledon 2019) to spend time with my family.
I do miss the moments before a match, the adrenaline, energy of the crowd, the stress – you are born with it. I still do play legends and invitation events, which are fun and serious every year – which is nice.
What are your thoughts about tennis coaching content on Social Media in general? …
When I see kids following these things, I’m devastated. Because we’re teaching them the wrong thing. You cannot teach a kid to play tennis with a video, you cannot, I don’t think you can. I think Social Media is a tool to for people to sell … and I don’t always agree with what I see.
On what it’s like to play at Wimbledon …
It’s my favourite Grand Slam! I love playing on grass and it is my favourite surface. It suits my game, the ball is low, I hit pretty flat. I have a good serve and I had a very good return (one of my greatest attributes).
When you listen to Roger that was the one he dreamed to win, Novak and Rafa the same.
The feeling is a completely different than any other tournament you ever play. I had goosebumps, it’s an amazing feeling entering this historic tournament and venue. That’s where tennis started for everybody.
If you could play any male or female player currently or in the past who would they be? …
It would be Patrick Rafter. I played with him in the Australian Open this year (and for female) Steffi Graf … maybe!
Never shy of a selfie. Tennishead writer Gareth poses with someone far better at tennis!
On the meaning of winning and advice to budding tennis players…
What’s the meaning of winning? For me, I learned it, the meaning of winning is improving. I wish I had this philosophy as my younger self. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Keep improving.
Quick fire round! …
Forehand or Backhand? Forehand!
Baseline or Net? Baseline!
Bandana or a headband? Bandana!
Defence or Attack? Attack!
Overarm Serve or Underarm Serve? Overarm Serve!
Tennis or Padel? Tennis!
Marcos Baghdatis was speaking at the London press launch held at Hotel du Vin, Wimbledon promoting his new tennis academy based at The City of Dreams, Limassol, Cyprus boasting 12 state-of-the-art ATP specification tennis courts.
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