AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2006

Marcos Baghdatis

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: It was amazing. I mean, it's nice to have all the fans around and supporting you. And when you feel good, you feel like home. You feel like Davis Cup. So it's pretty cool and pretty fantastic.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Very tired?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I had some stomach cramping, so I wasn't feeling so good in the court. After, I had the break with the physios so that gave me some breath. I had problems breathing, so it gave me some time to breathe and to relax a bit. And in 3-All in the fifth set I start feeling much better, much more pumped up. So I think I was really pumped up in the end.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I was just in my -- in my dream, in my own thing. I couldn't feel anything, if my body was moving along. I was just watching the ball and I was just in one big ball and just watching at the ball and just moving along. I mean, it was amazing.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know, but would have been very tough, I think.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Especially when I play at home Davis Cup, yeah, it's pretty crowdy and a lot of people. But, I mean, here, they think it's football so (smiling)... It's really great.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, I mean, I know it's not easy to have this low fans against you. It's not that I feel sorry but, I mean, I think that's what tennis needs I think in a way because -- so people can come and give everything to the players. It's an amazing feeling, amazing emotions for me, especially when I play here in Melbourne. I played couple of times, and I had this crowd with me. It's an amazing feeling than other tournament when nobody's there, like it's a bit quiet. So, I mean, I love this feeling. I love playing in front of this crowd. Like I told you before, I feel like home, you know.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: For sure, yeah. For sure. It would bother me, no, because...

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't know. It happened to me once in Ireland. I played Davis Cup. It was big, big crowd against us. I found my way to win. So, I mean, it's just I think that's what tennis needs. Just for me or for anybody else. It's like other sports, all the sports has this crowd. And it's for the players, it's an amazing feeling, amazing emotion. So I think it's great.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, yeah, I enjoy myself without the crowd also (smiling). It's not because of the crowd. But I love tennis and I play this game because I love it so...

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I do because I run my life with that so...

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, I just like to have fun on the court. Like to create the game. I adapt to all the surfaces, all the games, style of games or opponents. So I have -- I can play any game, so I can create a lot of things in the court.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Thank you.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: You know, it was really tough for me because I didn't have any wildcards, didn't have any help from my country or like other players did. So I had to fight my way through and pass -- all the Grand Slams I played last year were quallies and pass the quallies. The years before, playing challengers and everything. After I finished No. 1 Juniors, it was not so easy for me. I was expecting one day to be up there but, I mean, it came alone. It came alone. I'm really happy because I made a lot of sacrifices. My family did. A lot of people believed in me, and I believed in me. So it's great to be here, and I think that I have a lot of -- much more work to do and the way is long and my objectives are higher. So I know I have to keep my feet on the ground, work hard, and I can go even much better.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Two thousand.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Starting, yeah. They're really starting. Tennis starts to go higher in Cyprus as a sport.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No, not for the moment. Maybe the president (smiling).

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: That's not my choice. That was my father's choice. No, you know, when you're a kid you cannot choose what you have to do. So my father chose me to play tennis. I love tennis. I mean, maybe I prefer a bit football, more football than tennis. But my father push me more into tennis than football so I had -- I couldn't choose.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: He loves tennis.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah. He loves tennis. I don't know why, I think he is crazy about tennis. He wanted -- his dream was one of his kids to be a world like champion.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Oh, it was tough. You know, 14 years old, go alone to Paris. It was really tough. But I got through it, and I think it helped me a lot through my career, through my life also, through my -- not only in my career, in my life, outside life. It helped me a lot and got mature really quick and starting to take responsibilities really early in my life. So it was tough, but I think it's one of the best ways to learn things.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, not fosters, but a family, yeah, a family in Paris. I don't know if you call it fosters.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, of course.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, they're like my family. I've been in their house for five years. So I left from their house when I was 18. I went to live in the academy because they built some housing and stuffs and apartments. So I'm staying there now. But I still am -- I still am in contact and I see them every weekend if I am in Paris and go sleep to their house.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: It was before, yeah. Now it's Mouratoglou Tennis Academy.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah.

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Sometimes in the court, yeah. Few times.