Baghdatis extends his career by another round with win over Schnur

Cyprot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis extended his career with a Wimbledon first round win against Canadian Brayden Schnur in just under two hours.

Baghdatis, who said that this will be the last tournament of his his near 20-year long career, won in straight sets (6-2, 6-4, 6-4) and in convincing fashion against a player who is over 12 years younger than him.

He has a special affinity with Wimbledon, with the 1992 men’s final between Andre Agassi and Goran Ivanisevic being the first game he ever saw on television.

“It is a happy decision, it is not a sad one,” he said about his near retirement

“Everything comes to an end, it has been four or five years, I have some problems with my hip, my ankle, my foot. It has been a few years.

“It came now and it came for me at the perfect moment and I am really happy with that decision.

“It is my wife’s favourite tournament, the first ever match I watched on television was Andre Agassi against Ivanisevic in the final in 1992. I was seven years old, that was the first match I ever saw.

“I had some great runs here, my results here were much more consistent.

“It is the most historical place to play tennis. I could not be more grateful to finish here.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.