Photo: Ron C. Angle
In preparation for the second Grand Slam championship of the year at Roland Garros, Marcos is working hard in Paris with two highly-skilled former professionals – Younes El Aynaoui and Franco Squillari.
Marcos has ended his alliance with Olivier Soules and, while he takes his time to find the right replacement, he will practice with El Aynaoui and Squillari to fine tune his game ready for Roland Garros – where he reached the fourth round in 2007 (l. to Andreev).
As Marcos continues to claw his way back up the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings from No. 86, having been ranked as high as No. 8 in August 2008, he will take the appropriate time to find the right person to help him rediscover the top-level form that has eluded him since suffering a succession of injuries in 2008.
While Marcos and his team are in discussion with a couple of prospective coaches, Marcos will benefit from the clay-court prowess of Moroccan El Aynaoui and Squillari of Argentina.
El Aynaoui reached a career-high South African Airways ATP Ranking of No. 14 in November 2003, a year that saw the right-hander reach the quarter-finals at the Australian Open – where he lost 21-19 in the fifth set of a memorable clash with Andy Roddick – and at the US Open. He was also a finalist on clay in Casablanca – one of 16 ATP World Tour finals that the Moroccan contested; he won five titles in his career, including four on clay.
Former World No. 11 (September 2000) Squillari also enjoyed his greatest success on clay courts. The Buenos Aires native captured three ATP World Tour titles, all on clay, and was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2000 (l. to No. 3 Norman).
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com as we bring you all the latest news ahead of Roland Garros.
