Former world No. 8 Baghdatis to retire at Wimbledon

In a year that’s already seen former Top-10 players Nicolas Almagro and Lucie Safarova retire, another member of that esteemed group will be joining them on the sidelines.

Marcos Baghdatis announced that this year’s Wimbledon will be the last tournament of his career. The 2006 semifinalist, who last reached the second week at Wimbledon in 2008,  was granted a main-draw wild card next week.

As impressive as his run to the final four in ‘06 was, it was his Australian Open performance at the start of that year that established him as a star-to-be and consistent performer on the ATP Tour through the bulk of his career.

Playing the tournament for the second time in his then-young career, Baghdatis beat three Top-10 players in a row—all while flashing his infectious grin—to reach what would be the lone Grand Slam final of his career, dropping that last match to world No. 1 Roger Federer.

Later that year, Baghdatis cracked the Top 10 for the first time and would go on to win four singles titles out of 14 career finals. The past few years have had their share of ups and downs for Cyprus’ best-ever player as injuries took their toll. He did win an ATP Challenger event in China this year, but hasn’t played a tournament since May.

The 34-year-old, who posted wins against Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in his career, is already missed among his peers.

Baghdatis is married to former WTA player Karolina Sprem and the couple have two children.

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