Marcos Baghdatis receives hero's welcome
(Daily Times)
Updated: 2006-02-06 09:26

Marcos Baghdatis was greeted by hundreds of cheering fans at Larnaca airport when he returned home to Cyprus following his heroics at the Australian Open.

Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis lifts the Cyprus tennis federation award during a ceremony ijn his honor at Lefkothea stadium in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006. Baghdatis returned to a hero's welcome as hundreds of people crowded to greet him following his surprise success at the Australian Open last week. [AP]

The 20-year-old fought back the tears as he was reunited with his family for the first time since his defeat by world number one Roger Federer in the Open final on January 29. “It’s very emotional to be back,” Baghdatis told the crowd. “I’m a little overwhelmed and I’m not sure what to say. I’d like to thank all who came and everyone who followed my matches. It was a great experience for me and for our country.”

Baghdatis’s mother Andri was hospitalised during the final and had a gall stones operation a day later but she was well enough to greet her son, accompanied by her Lebanese husband Christos. The exploits of Baghdatis, from a village named ‘fairytale’, seized the imagination of tennis fans worldwide as he swept into the final as an unseeded outsider. Baghdatis is a rare success story for a divided island dominated by partisan politics where sport is synonymous with football. Baghdatis is now ranked 27th in the world, up from 54th before the Melbourne final, and is hailed at home as the greatest sportsman Cyprus has produced.