ROD LAVER was introduced to Roger Federer for the first time in the players’ dining room at Melbourne Park yesterday. It was a brief meeting between respectful men, they exchanged a handshake, a few private confidences, agreeing that they will meet again at the presentation for the men’s final, when Laver hands over the trophy.
Laver, the great Australian, has said that of all the players he has seen in 37 years since he won the grand slam of the four leading championships in a calendar year at the age of 31, the Swiss is the one best-equipped to equal the feat. When it was put to Federer, on his return to Australian soil three weeks ago, whether he could fulfil such a prediction — he was seated at a table with Andy Roddick, Guillermo Coria, Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian at the time — the world No 1 gulped and said it was an unfair to ask such a loaded question.
This morning, Federer meets Nicolas Kiefer for a place in what would be his sixth final in nine grand-slam tournaments; Kiefer has never been to one. Neither had Marcos Baghdatis until — in a style that has captivated not only this city but also many across the world and turned his native Cyprus into a seething frenzy — he beat Nalbandian 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to register a third victory in succession over top-ten players after his elimination of Roddick and Ljubicic.
Every move this 20-year-old has made in the past week has bedazzled, he has carried a tournament that had sunk into a slough of despond with the withdrawals of Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Marat Safin, the defending champion, into a realm of fantasy, becoming the saviour it could not have imagined. Take a pinch of Boris Becker, add a soupçon of Yannick Noah, toss in a helping of Nadal and you have Baghdatis.
He plays with utter fearlessness, his approach is of an abandon you rarely see, he swings into his serve, has a tremendous engine, tends to meet any situation with a shot that turns the face of a rally and loves every second of what he does. He is the antidote to the dull, laboured automaton of whom there are too many. What he has done for tennis in a week is unquantifiable.
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The last time that Nalbandian lost a match from a two-set lead was in the 2003 US Open semi-finals, when Roddick remembered he had something in his repertoire called brute force. The American went on to win the final.
When the Argentinian led Baghdatis by a similar margin and the fireworks began to illuminate the night sky in celebration of Australia Day, it looked as if they had been lit to mark a Nalbandian procession. Instead, they ignited something in the heart of Baghdatis.
He had barely been second-best in the first two sets but when he began to win points he had actually given up on — Nalbandian paid the price for keeping his eye too long on where Baghdatis was and not on the ball — the sense of shift became overpowering. What this man with the smile like a sunbeam does that unnerves opponents is that he runs down the remotest of lost causes, he seizes on half-chances and can turn a rally that an opponent appears to be dominating into one he is in charge of with subtle shifts of grip and gear.
Nalbandian led 4-2 in the final set but knew he was not anywhere near home. Baghdatis turned that situation around, as he has done so many others, but when he was serving for the match at 5-4, 15 all, light rain started to fall. The players retreated to the locker-room for 25 minutes while the roof was drawn shut.
“My coach (Guillaume Payre) said, ‘I’m not scared for you, I’m scared for him’ and that was great coaching,” Baghdatis said. As good as it was, in these circumstances, older heads should prevail, but the Cypriot was having none of it and although he missed a first match point, he served an ace that split the “T” on his second and sank to his knees in joy.
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Baghdatis said: “I started to believe in the game at 5-2 (down) in the second set; before that I was really stressed out. The crowd helped me to pass through the tough moments. I’ve learnt how to stay calm and believe in myself.”
Schools in Cyprus were closed so that everyone could watch their new hero yesterday. If he wins the title on Sunday, Marcos Baghdatis Day cannot be far behind.
WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT CYPRUS