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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2010

Marcos Baghdatis

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

M. BAGHDATIS/D. Ferrer
4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It was quite a celebration at the end. You're a happy lad.
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, I'm happy I won. So, yeah...

Q. Talk us through it. What was going through your mind?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, in the beginning of the match I had a lot of chances to break him. I think I was the best one on the court. I didn't take any chances, and he did at 5-4. He took the set.
In the second I was a break up again. I had the chances and I couldn't finish it. I was a bit frustrated in the beginning of the third. What I did, is say to myself that -- I'll just go on the court today and try to not miss a ball.
Then I saw he was a bit tired, so it helped me fight even more, you know. I saw a window open, so, you know, that's how it went.
Then my tennis came back. Started playing pretty good. Started playing a bit more aggressive. The serve came back in the fourth and the fifth set. I served pretty good, so I'm delighted I won.

Q. What was the emotion and the celebration?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, it was great coming back. I'm a bit tired. I had five matches in Sydney. Mentally it was tough today. I was a bit tired. Wake up and play the first match at 11:00. I'm happy I went through, and that's the most important thing. I found the solution to win.

Q. Do you think the crowd helped you turn around and fight back?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, for sure they did, like I said before. But I think the thing that helped me a lot was the reaction of Ferrer in the third set. He went a bit down, you know, and I saw that. That helped me come up a bit, and then the crowd helped me for sure.

Q. How do you feel about your first serves? Can you be better?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: For sure I can always be a bit better. The percentage is not too high. In the fourth and fifth set I think I had a pretty high percentage of serves. I won a lot of free points, and I'm really happy I came back.

Q. Can you tell us what they say when they sing in the crowd?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: A lot of things: Marcos, I love you. I will never stop singing for you. Stuff like this.

Q. Was it like 2006 all over again here?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No. I think every year I come here I play good. It's not -- maybe in 2006 I played finals, but I think every year I come here I feel good and I play good. It's like every year.

Q. Are you the fittest you've been?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yes.

Q. The cramping at the end, did you have any concerns with the new rule with cramping that you may have to pull out?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: No, because I was 5-1 up. I said, Okay, I finish this game and I'll have one minute thirty to rest, and then the cramps would go away. That's what I thought. So I went fast and served.
But the last three, four points the cramps went away, so everything was okay.

Q. You might play Lleyton again. How do you feel about that?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't want to talk about that. You know, I'm very happy I won today. I'll just, you know, don't think about Lleyton for today. I'll start thinking about him tomorrow and the day after. I have time.
Today I just want to enjoy my victory and think about what -- all the positive things out from this match.

Q. The last match that you played against him here, how does that sit in your mind?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: You know, I forgot about it. It's nothing. There's so many matches in your career that you don't -- I mean, I remember the match, but you don't focus on one match.
So, you know, it's a match that maybe I played and finished 4:45 in the morning. But it's a great match. I'm not thinking about it every night before going to sleep, you know.

Q. Big game today. What physically do you need to do to get your body right now?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Trust my physio. I think he'll work on my body and I will be 100% ready for Lleyton's match.

Q. Getting back to the fitness level, have you been doing anything extra?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, worked a bit differently, more in the gym than before. Basically, that's all.

Q. You said he got tired in the third set. Did that surprise you given that he's regarded as one of the fittest players?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Yeah, you can be fit, but the heat, you never know. It was 32 degrees out there. You never know how your body reacts to it. You have to be fit, but you have to play a lot in those conditions and get matches in those conditions.
I don't know if he did get so many matches in these conditions. It's always tough coming here because of the heat.

Q. You talked about the night match you played. There's been a bit of talk about the night match last night, Tomic and Cilic, a 17 year old. He said early this morning that he felt it was wrong to have him scheduled at that time. What are your thoughts on that?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: My thoughts are that's the way it is. We have to deal with it. We don't have to find excuses, we have to find a way to win every match we play, even if it's in tough conditions. That's all.

Q. Do you have a preference, day or night Saturday for you?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I don't mind.

Q. 10:00 at night start?
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: I would prefer a bit earlier, but I don't mind.

Q. Why do you think it is that you seem to be especially energized by this part of the year? I know it's the start of the new year, but you more than anyone seem to find something special at this time of the year.
MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Because I'm fully fit. I think I'm mentally fresh. That's what I learned the last couple of years. That's what I will try to do this year: Stay fresh mentally during the whole year like I am here. If I do that, I think I'll play great tennis. Stay mentally fresh and keep motivating myself every day.

End of FastScripts

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