Marcos Baghdatis is trying hard to find a way to crack the code and win against the top players on the Tour.
“I believe I can do it [beat the top players]. I’ve shown it enough times. I was up against Rafa [Nadal] a lot of times, and now against Novak [Djokovic] two times already,” Baghdatis told media after going down in three sets in the semifinal of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships against the defending champion on Friday.
In his semi-final, Baghdatis dominated and won the first set and was the better of the two through a major part of the second.
But something happened and the lanky Serb managed to turn the match around midway through the encounter to win in three sets 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 to make his second successive final of the tournament here.
“I am going to talk to my team and find a solution to see how to win these matches. Because I think if I do that, I’m not very far from a good tennis level. I’m not very far from the top level,” Baghdatis said.
International matches
The Cypriot broke in on the international scene in a big way in 2006 when he finished the year as No 12 while also winning his first ATP title in Beijing.
He opened the year with a quarterfinal in Doha and his first-ever Grand Slam final at the Australian Open on both occasions losing to Federer.
He has the scalps of several top-ranked players, prominent among these No 3 Andy Roddick,, No 8 Ivan Ljubicic and No 4 David Nalbandian on his way to the Australian Open final that year.
However, during a later part of the same season, Baghdatis went down to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and to Andre Agassi in the second round of the US Open.
“I’m a bit frustrated. I had some chances against great players and I didn’t take them. And now, another one goes by and it’s a bit frustrating.
“I’ll just talk to my team and find a solution to try next time to win matches like that,” Baghdatis stated.
The Cypriot is considered by many to be among the most gifted players on the ATP Tour.
However, injuries have plagued his career at the wrong time thus sending him further down the ranking to his current No 37.
He feels he’s got to make just those small changes that will help him eventually reach his potential.
“It’s just the important points, you know. It’s the important points and important matches that make the difference. And I have lost a lot of them in my career and I have to find a solution.”
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