Cyprus gave its tennis sensation Marcos Baghdatis a hero’s welcome Saturday, greeted at Larnaca airport by thousands of supporters who pushed for a glimpse of the young player.
The Cyprus Airways Airbus bringing the unexpected finalist of the Australian Open passed an arch of water cannons and the 20 year old new national hero was showered with flowers as he stepped off the aircraft.
The first to greet him was his mother, Andri, while the flashes of cameras and an asphyxiating crowd of reporters and curious onlookers shocked Marcos who needed a few moments to compose himself.
Baghdatis, who knocked out three top seeded players in a roller-coaster ride that drew worldwide media attention, was beaten in the US$ 14.5 mln final in Melbourne by world leader Roger Federer, who added a seventh Grand Slam trophy to his mantelpiece.
But his performance won him unprecedented support in a country where tennis has only recently blossomed in the shadow of football that undeservingly still attracts some 90% of the island’s sports aid from the state.
Hysterical crowd in Cyprus were glued to their television sets last Sunday and then poured into the streets to celebrate the only Cypriot ever to reach a Grand Slam final.
“My work is not over yet and I will do my best to win all the tournaments I will play in. I will fight for every one,” an emotional Marcos told reporters and friends at the packed VIP lounge of the airport.
Holding up the silver trophy he received from tennis legend Rod Laver, whose name was given to the Melbourne stadium where the Open finals were held, Baghdatis said “it was a dream to play at a Grand Slam final” and thanked his parents and the “sensational” crowds that supported him during the 15-day tournament.
“My plans for the future are to continue to play tennis,” he said advising children to “work hard and believe in themselves” in order to achieve their own successes.
Education Minister Pefkios Georghiades said Baghdatis had all the virtues of ethos and determination youngsters aspire to and hoped the young ace would soon become the new king of tennis.
The Minister called Marcos “the best ambassador of this small island in the whole world”, while the Bishop of Larnaca gave him an icon of the Virgin Mary.
His manager Patrick Mouratoglou said Marcos “is very special, not like every person” and praised his former trainer and Cyprus national coach Yiannos Hadjigeorgiou for discovering and believing in Baghdatis.
Marcos Baghdatis, accompanied by a large team including his coach Guillaume Peyre, his model girlfriend Camille Etienne and members of the Mouratoglou tennis academy then headed for Limassol where he was greeted by a frenzied crowd and declared an “axion” or honorary citizen of the town where he was born, while a street now also carries his name.
On Sunday morning Baghdatis, his family and his team will be received by President Tassos Papadopoulos at his estate on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia and in the evening he will be the star spectator of the crucial football match between his home town Apollon and the Nicosia giant Apoel.
The 54th-ranked outsider, dubbed “Baghdatis of Cyprus”, is now ranked 27th, and will leave the island early on Monday to prepare for international tournaments in Marseille and Rotterdam.
