Baghdatis and Agassi: Same Style, Same Attitude, 15 Years Apart

There wasn’t much tennis on television when Marcos Baghdatis grew up in Cyprus — only Wimbledon, and only the final. One match in particular, when he was 7 years old, stands out in his mind: Andre Agassi versus Goran Ivanisevic.“The year he won Wimbledon, I remember the backhand volley that Ivanisevic hit [into the net],” Baghdatis, recalling the 1992 final, said. “I was crying.”The 21-year-old Cypriot said his tears were ones of happiness. Back then, Agassi had long hair, a shaggy beard, and no shortage of pizzazz, not to mention the game’s most celebrated forehand-backhand tandem. He hit the cover off the ball, much the way Baghdatis, a former junior champion who has had a marvelous season, does now.“I liked his style,” Baghdatis said.Tonight, Baghdatis will play Agassi for the first and last time of his young career. And he could not be happier about it. As Agassi muddled through his first-round match with Andrei Pavel Monday evening, Baghdatis hoped for the best. He said he never would have believed, 14 years ago, that he might have the chance to play Agassi during his last U.S. Open, and perhaps his last match ever.“He’s a legend, whatever you say for him is not enough,” Baghdatis said. “He did so many things for this sport.”Baghdatis does not know Agassi well. Their interactions have consisted of simple hellos in the locker room and a practice session last year. And though Baghdatis and Agassi play a very similar game — abbreviated, flat strokes that meet the ball early and angle it sharply — Baghdatis said he did not model his game, or his hair and beard, after Agassi. He just listened to his father, Christos, who immigrated to Cyprus from Lebanon, and later, the instructors at the French tennis academy from which he received a scholarship.“Maybe my father wanted me to play like him, but I didn’t know — he never told me that,” Baghdatis said.Agassi’s first-round match had its moments, but this one ought to be something special. Baghdatis is more advanced than Agassi was at 21. He volleys well, has a stronger first serve than Agassi did, and he’s a more explosive mover. Like Agassi, he returns exceptionally well, as Andy Roddick learned at this year’s Australian Open (Baghdatis eventually lost to Roger Federer in the final, but not before making the world no. 1 wobble). And like Agassi, his skills translate to grass (he reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing to Nadal) and even clay, though the sheer number of gifted grinders on the tour today will limit Baghdatis’s chances at the French Open.“Such a talent,” Agassi said of Baghdatis. “I’ll have to play real well. He’s playing some of the best tennis this year.”Does Agassi have it in him? He’ll certainly have control of the crowd, and the knowledge that Baghdatis, for all his achievements this year, is a young man finding his way. He still suffers moments of self-doubt, like the young Agassi once did. If he can keep Baghdatis on the court long enough, and the fans in their seats, Agassi will have a chance.“I think tomorrow they will be against me,” Baghdatis said. “I don’t know if I will like it.”

Baghdatis and Agassi: Same Style, Same Attitude, 15 Years Apart

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