Hey, Marcos, welcome back to the Tour – and what a great way to return triumphing in Nottingham last week! Thanks for taking some timeout from your rigorous training for the 2014 Wimbledon Championships to answer some equipment questions!
OK, to start with, and just incase the readers here are not aware of your tennis playing history, can you please let us know when you actually began playing?
- I started playing tennis at a pretty young age, when I was 4 years old. My father played tennis, as well as my two older brothers, so it was a natural fit for me actually.
Wow! You started young! What was your first racket – do you remember it?
- I actually do remember it, it was the same racket that Steffi Graff was playing with, a blue Wilson racket.
I’m sure many of our readers can relate here to your reply – for sure when anyone is starting to play, it is more about getting on the court and hitting, but thereafter even at a young age, you want better equipment to play better!
- Absolutely true. When I was young and just started to play, it was all about having fun and learning the game, but the older you get, even as a junior, the more important your equipment becomes. It kind of grows with you as you grow as a tennis player so to say.
With growing-up in Cyprus, was it difficult to find courts, and people to play with when you were beginning to play?
- Not too difficult actually. In the city where I was living, there were two tennis clubs. The clubs and courts were always full with people who wanted to play, and most of my friends played so there were always plenty of people to hit with for me.
What was the first (ever) Tournament that you won? Do you remember it?? Do you still have the Trophy???
- Yes, I do remember the tournament, I was 9 years old and it was a local tournament at the club that I played at. I unfortunately do not have the trophy anymore.
Did you ever string your own rackets when you were younger? When did you realize the importance of strings & rackets??
- No, I never strung my own rackets when I was a junior. When I became a better junior, I definitely started to understand more about the equipment, and how important it was. You learn more about it as you grow as a player I would say.
You had a very impressive IFT Junior Career – what are your fondest memories of playing the Junior Events?
- I had a great time on the ITF Junior Tour. Not only were they pretty successful as you said when I finished #2 and #1 in consecutive years, but I also made great friends with some of the other players. We had a lot of fun together, but also were very competitive. So it was a good mix, and I was fortunate enough to have all these great experiences of seeing different parts in the world and playing on such a high level.
Obviously as you progressed upwards in the ATP Rankings, there must have been any and all racket Mfg’s “knocking-on-you-door’ – assuming that you did test numerous rackets for all Mfg’s, what brought you to Fischer?
- The local representative from Fischer in Cyprus came to find my dad, and gave me a few rackets to test. I really liked them, and started to play with them right away. My first racket from Fischer was the same one that Michael Stich was playing with as well I remember.
In order of IMPORTANCE, what do you feel are the most important aspects of a racket for you, and for any top-player player? (Yes, they are all important but…)
a) Power
b) control
c) feel
d) comfort
- I would say for me, the order is Feel, Control, Power, and Comfort.
What are a few of the things that today’s ‘young’ players do that make them successful?
- In my opinion, the younger guys coming up are physically very strong already and have a good understanding of the game, as it is competitive all around, even in the lower ranks coming up.
With looking at the ATP Rankings, it seems that ‘older’ players are more successful today, and lasting longer on the ATP Tour – personally, why???
- In today’s game, were your level of fitness and physique both play such an important role, players are taking much better care of these areas, and I believe therefore last longer on tour.
Marcos, what are those ‘weird’ quirks that you personally have regarding your rackets? Meaning… like how the grip is wrapped, where the logo is etc.??
Regarding any & all of your equipment, (rackets, strings, shoes, clothing, etc.) do you have any personal ‘quirks’ that you always follow? As we see Nadal always placing his water bottles a certain way – do you have anything like this that you always do when playing matches?
- I am grouping your two questions above into one and will give you a good example: I always number my rackets – 1,2,3,4….8,9, etc. Every match, I start with #1, and then go down the row throughout the match. So if I finish the match on racket #6, and I have 2 more left, I will go the next day to practice with #7 and #8, and then so on. But on match days, I start always with #1.
OK – getting to the last of our questions here… I’d love to know where you see yourself personally in: 5-years / 10-years / 20-years from now??
- If everything goes well, I certainly hope to play for 5 more years, or longer if possible! But down the road, I hope to stay involved in tennis. In what way, I am not sure yet, but I do hope to make a positive difference one way or the other for the sport of tennis.
Marcos, you are a Fan Favorite globally – no mater your current Ranking - I’m sure you are aware of that, and what continues to ‘drive’ you to play competitively?
- My main drive is the fans, and the excitement they bring to my matches, wherever I go. It is very nice to receive the support I get when I go on the court. It means a lot to me and to get so much respect wherever I go, is truly an honor. What really drives me is to work hard and get back to the top-10, my main goal, as I am aiming to finish the next couple of years of my career on a high note.
You have always been very loyal to your Sponsors – be that with local Cyprus affiliations, to Adidas, to…”?”. Can you freely comment here, and now that you are with PACIFIC, how does this Company, (PACIFIC) ‘fit’ into your philosophy?
- I feel very comfortable with Pacific, they make very good rackets and I feel like I can play my best tennis with using them. As Pacific’s focus is to be ‘#1 in Performance’, so is mine as well. I want to be the best I can be, so therefore our goals and ideals align very well together.
Lastly, let’s get in the “Time Machine” - if you could today, and with knowing all of what you know after your years of playing professionally, go back and “meet” a 16-year old Marcos Baghdatis, what advice would you give him?
- Actually, I would not advise him to do anything different at all. I have become the person I am today by doing the things I did and the way I did them, and I am happy with what I have done so far so really would not want to change anything to be honest. I would say to enjoy every moment of everything you do, which is exactly what I have been doing as well.
Marcos, please let me say thank you for your time, and for your candid replies here! The tennis world always loves to hear factual & candid, comments from a beloved legend like your self!
