A YEAR ago, Marcos Baghdatis was at the Sydney International revelling in his appearance in the opening scene of Andre Agassi's controversial autobiography.
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The legendary American tennis player started his book with vivid details of the 2006 US Open match he played against Baghdatis, praising the Cypriot as a younger version of himself.
The epic five-set victory Agassi had over Baghdatis was the last of his career.
Baghdatis is yet to reach the heights that Agassi attained, but some of his career highlights have come in Australia, where he has family and always gets huge support from the Greek Cypriot community.
Australian fans love his smile and the fact Pat Rafter was his idol growing up.
Baghdatis, 25, is the reigning Sydney International champion, and told the Herald this week that he will return to defend his title in great physical shape after gruelling pre-season training.
''I'm very excited to go back to Sydney,'' he said. ''It's my favourite tournament, and I love the city. I had a great moment there last year, beating Richard Gasquet to win my fourth title, and I really appreciated all the support I received from the Aussie fans.
''I think playing in Sydney will be great preparation for me before the Australian Open as it's a really strong field there in 2011. I've worked really hard in the off-season, mountain biking, in the gym and on the court.
''It's been tough, but I feel like I've improved in all departments, and now I'm excited about testing myself against the likes of Juan Martin del Potro, Sam Querrey, Ernests Gulbis, Richard Gasquet and Viktor Troicki. I really hope I can defend my title.''
Querrey, of the United States, is top seed for the tournament and ranked No. 18 in the world.
Baghdatis, ranked 20th, is the second seed.
Gulbis is third in the pecking order with a ranking of 24th.
After beating Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semi-final of last year's International, Baghdatis went on to defeat France's Gasquet 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in the final.
It was the only tournament he won last year, but other highlights of the year included beating Roger Federer in Indian Wells and Rafael Nadal in Cincinnati, both in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series.
Baghdatis reached a career-high world ranking of No.8 in 2006, after making the final of the Australian Open that year.
This week he was playing in the Mubadala exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, where he pushed world No. 6 Tomas Berdych all the way in a close 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 loss.
