By IANS
Mumbai : Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, World No 16 and runner-up at the Australian Open 2006, has confirmed his participation for the $436,000 ATP Chennai Open in January 2008.
The 13th edition of Chennai Open, South Asia’s premier ATP tennis tournament, will be held from Dec 31, 2007 to Jan 6, 2008 at the SDAT Stadium at Nungambakkam, Chennai.
Baghdatis, whose playing style is relaxed and smooth, is a powerful forehand player. He also has one of the best backhands in the game, especially his two-handed backhand down the line. Baghdatis was ranked as high as No 8 in August 2006.
He also has a rare distinction of being one of the only three to break into the Top-10 of the world before winning his first ATP title. The first two were Frenchman Cedric Pioline and Swede Mikael Pernfors.
Says Fernando Soler, tournament director of Chennai Open 2008: “Marcos Baghdatis is a special player. He is a wonderfully ebullient character who radiates immense enjoyment whenever and wherever he plays, and has acquired a loyal throng of fans who roar his every winning point. I am confident that Chennai will be able to enjoy his style of tennis and we can expect some riveting performance from him.”
Chennai fans will witness some interesting moments during Baghdatis’ matches. Baghdatis is noted for often playing high-risk tennis, attempting difficult shots which, depending on their execution, can pay off big or backfire. He also has an exuberant and festive on-court presence that frequently rubs off positively on to the spectators.
In 2007, Baghdatis finished in Top 20 for second straight year highlighted by his second career ATP title while reaching two other finals.
The 22-year-old, Baghdatis began playing tennis at age five and played with his father and two elder brothers, Marinos and Petros, who played Davis Cup. He was No. 1 junior in 2003 with Australian Open juniors title and runner-up at US Open juniors in 2002-03. His biggest idol as a kid was Patrick Rafter, but he also looked up to Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.
In January 2006, Baghdatis received an exemption from the otherwise mandatory Cypriot national service so that he could concentrate on playing tennis. Had he not been exempted, he would have been required to serve 25 months in the military, as is required of all Cypriot males upon reaching 18 years of age.