THE MOTHER of Cypriot tennis hero Marcos Baghdatis was recovering from an operation for gallstones yesterday.
Andri Baghdatis was taken to a private clinic in Limassol on Sunday in the middle of her son’s most crucial tennis match to date.
Baghdatis, 20, seized the imagination of tennis fans worldwide as he roared into the Australian Open final in Melbourne. But world number one Roger Federer eventually proved too good for the unseeded Baghdatis in Sunday’s final.
Despite his defeat he has become a national hero at home, being praised by President Tassos Papadopoulos as “a unique youth, with courage, determination, mental strength and faith in his homeland and religion,”
Baghdatis’ parents struggled hard and made countless sacrifices, financial and emotional to send their son to train in France when he was not quite 14 years old.
According to Philios Christodoulou, head of the Cyprus Tennis Federation, Baghdatis’s mother had been complaining of stomach pains early on Sunday but the pains seemed to worsen when she saw her son suffer a cramp during the match.
She was driven to a private clinic and kept in for observation, after which doctors diagnosed galls stones. “She finished watching the match from her hospital bed,” Christodoulou told the Cyprus Mail.
An operation was set for Monday morning and carried out by lunchtime, he added.
“She is much better now,” said Christodoulou, after speaking with Andri’s husband Christos, a Lebanese man who settled in Cyprus 35 years ago.
“Christos said it was a minor operation and that there was no need to worry. She has spoken to Marcos and everything is OK,” he added.
Christodoulou said he did not know exactly when Baghdatis would be returning to Cyprus but said it would probably be on Friday.
The young tennis sensation is expected to receive a hero’s welcome. He will be met by top sports chiefs, not only from the Tennis Federation but also the Cyprus Sports Organisation and the Cyprus Olympic Committee. “And of course his family,” said Christodoulou.
Baghdatis, who has captured the hearts of all Cypriots, is also to receive a cash prize of £150,000 from the state as a gift from the people. His impressive run in Melbourne earned him £215,000 in prize money.
His hometown of Limassol also plans to honour Baghdatis by naming a street after him.
