Fan favourite Marcos Baghdatis opens up about his special connection with Wimbledon

Ewan West 05 Jul 2026 4:45 PM

Marcos Baghdatis in action at Wimbledon in 2006

Marcos Baghdatis retired from tennis in 2019, and he has spoken to Tennis365 about the special connection he still has with Wimbledon.

During an illustrious 16-year career that began in 2003, Baghdatis won four ATP Tour singles titles, reached a career-high ranking of world No 8 and earned wins against both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The Cypriot star was a fan favourite on the ATP Tour, and he was a particularly popular figure at Wimbledon, with some of his standout moments taking place at the All England Club.

Five months after he was a finalist at the 2006 Australian Open, Baghdatis reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Nadal after beating a young Andy Murray and sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt.

At the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, Baghdatis downed David Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko before falling in an epic five-set quarter-final to Novak Djokovic, who was seeded fourth.

Baghdatis chose to end his career at Wimbledon in 2019 after receiving a wildcard, and he retired with a 22-14 record from his 14 main draw appearances at the historic major in London.

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In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Baghdatis spoke about the relationship he has with Wimbledon as he recalled the first tennis match he watched.

“The connection is, it’s just the first tournament I ever watched on TV when I was nine years old, or eight years old,” said Baghdatis.

“Yeah, the first match that I ever watched on TV was the final of Wimbledon 1992, Andre Agassi against [Goran] Ivanisevic. And as a child, the dream was always to compete at Wimbledon.

“I wanted, one day, to be in that Centre Court, that’s a dream. For every professional — maybe not every — but myself, the dream was to get there. And yeah, that’s the biggest connection you can have with a tournament.

“And whenever you enter the Millennium Building, when the car drops you off, you literally have goosebumps on you and you feel the goosebumps.

“Yeah, that’s the real connection that I had with Wimbledon and I always love going there.

“Even now, when I get invited to the invitational tournament, it’s just a nice feeling to go back and re-feel these emotions when you enter the building and when you step on the practice courts, you step on the match courts, just to play a fun tennis match.

“I think it’s just amazing and I feel pretty privileged to be able to still do that and have that connection with Wimbledon.”

Baghdatis will partner Xavier Malisse in the 2026 Gentleman’s Invitation doubles event at Wimbledon.