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| 26 Jan 2003 | |
| Baghdatis storms to first Grand Slam title and Strycova repeats Aussie Open triumph |
By Eleanor Preston
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) and Barbora Strycova (CZE) were crowned Australian Open champions after both netted wins at Melbourne Park. For Baghdatis, his 6-4, 6-4 win over Florin Mergea (ROM) meant a debut Grand Slam title and a reversal of fortunes after he lost last year’s US Open final to Richard Gasquet.
On that occasion Baghdatis had the title on his racket before nerves got the better of him at 5-4 in the second set. As he served for the match against Mergea, with the scoreboard again reading 5-4, those nerves came back to haunt him once more, but this time he managed to conquer them.
"At 40-0 I missed a first serve, then I just pushed a second and the guy made a winner, then at 40-15 I missed a smash. I told myself to just try and get the first serve in and make a slice serve which is not so risky and it worked because he just put the ball out. All the pressure went out of me, everything just came out. It was a big relief."
Baghdatis raised his arms in the air in triumph and draped himself in the Cypriot flag as he walked up to accept his trophy. He is already a leading member of the Cypriot Davis Cup squad and is keen to spearhead the growth of tennis in his country. "I am very proud of playing for Cyprus. Tennis is not so big there, I am the only one," he said. "We have a national centre, two national coaches, and we had a quarter-finalist at the Orange Bowl. Things are trying to get better. The community gets better and people are getting a lot more interested, so financially it’s better. Hopefully my win will help a lot because more people will start to play tennis."
Baghdatis’ superior serving and consistency off the ground proved too much for Mergea. At one stage Baghdatis was winning 92% of the points when he got his first serve in and the Romanian had no answer. "I felt like I was the boss of the match. I knew he was playing good but I just felt like on my serve he didn’t win a lot of points and when he served all the time it was deuce," he said. "I was more solid, he made a lot of unforced errors, so I am pleased with that."
Strycova had a tougher match than Baghdatis, coming from a dismal start to beat Viktoria Kutuzova (UKR) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2. "In the first set I didn’t believe in myself enough and then I fought back. I didn’t play well today. I was nervous and it just wasn’t great. That’s when experience helps a lot."
Strycova has been battling an ankle injury all week and she admitted that her journey to the title had been hard going at times. "It’s better than last year because it’s the second time and that’s a good feeling. I’m so happy but it was definitely harder this time around."
Strycova also revealed she had plenty of motivation for winning her second title at Melbourne Park. Earlier in the week she made a bet with her father, who was at home in the Czech Republic following the scores on the internet.
"If I lose I would have had to shave my hair, so I am very relieved," she laughed, although Jindrich Strycova will not have to go to the hairdressers to keep his side of the bargain. "He doesn’t have hair so he has to put some colour on his head instead," grinned Strycova.
Photographs by Ron Angle
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