Marcos Baghdatis has given his thoughts on how he would stack up on the ATP Tour if he were still active today.
He’s still the only player from Cyprus to reach a Grand Slam final, making his run at the 2006 Australian Open before falling short against Roger Federer.
Baghdatis retired in 2019. Since then, he’s moved into coaching and is now part of Qinwen Zheng’s team on the WTA Tour.
Throughout his career, Baghdatis picked up wins over both Federer and Nadal. Now, he’s shared how he thinks his game would have matched up against current stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Marcos Baghdatis says Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner wouldn’t ‘blow him off court’
Speaking in an interview with Tennis.com, Marcos Baghdatis spoke about what he could do if he was still competing on tour today:
Baghdatis managed to take down both Federer and Nadal in his career, picking up nine top-10 wins along the way. While there may be more depth on the ATP Tour now than when Baghdatis was playing, it shouldn’t change too much about where he’d fit in if dropped into today’s game at age 25.
“Yeah, it’s evolving. Science is evolving, everything in the world is evolving. Tennis is more powerful, players are taller, bigger, stronger. It’s for sure different than 15 years ago,” Baghdatis told CLAY when asked about how tennis has changed since he retired.
He also pointed out that there were more tactical options available back then and noted that the courts have become slower over time.
“Before it was more tactical, you could play slower, play the ball,” explained Baghdatis. “Now it’s everything — one, two shots, power. Points were slower before, but courts are slower now, balls are higher. It’s different, but everything is evolving. There is so much data, so many things improving.”
Baghdatis reached a career-high ranking of world number eight in 2006, and he was asked if he thinks he would have been successful in this generation when he was in his prime.
The Cypriot noted that while pulling off such an impact would be difficult in reality, there were parts of his game that might have caused problems for some current Grand Slam champions.
“Yeah, I don’t know, I don’t know. When I see some players today, or players that have won Grand Slams, I always think how my game would disturb them, what I would do in certain situations,” answered Baghdatis.
“I think I could. But to actually do it is a completely different story. It’s a very difficult question to answer. Visual wise, yes, I see ways, but to go on court and do it is completely different.”
Marcos Baghdatis explains why all tournaments should aspire to be like the Australian Open
Baghdatis’ best Grand Slam result came in Melbourne, and he’s since made it clear that he believes other tournaments could benefit from following the same approach as the Australian Open.
“What I want is to have every tournament like this one (Australian Open), because this is tennis, this is how it should be,” said Baghdatis. It’s very difficult to achieve, but I think there is a possibility that tournaments can move in that direction.
“I also think there is a chance that more players — not just the top 100, but the top 300 — can earn more money.”
Baghdatis played 12 more Australian Opens after reaching the final in 2006 but never advanced past the fourth round again.
His other standout performance at a Grand Slam came at Wimbledon, where he reached the semifinals during that same year.
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