Man of the Hour

As mentioned earlier, Uta and I managed to catch the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis getting some practice hits in during the Australian Open qualifying rounds two weeks ago. Little did we realize that Baghdatis would become the most exciting thing about this year's Grand Slam. The 20-year old was a juniors champion and managed to make it to round 4 during last year's open. This year, however, he raised many an eyebrow as he handily defeated #2 seed Andy Roddick during round 4. He stunned thousands as he came from behind to defeat #7 seed Ivan Ljubicic during the quarterfinals, and after last night's semi-final victory over #4 seed David Nalbandian, the tennis world is in awe.



The government of Cyprus is sending Baghdatis' parents to Australia to watch the final. In one tournament, he has managed to double his career earnings. If he manages to pull off a victory in the final he'll quadruple them. Needless to say, his string of victories is doing wonders for his world ranking.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Kiefer has a chance to do what Tommy Haas couldn't, and defeat Roger Federer for the other slot in Sunday's final. Martina Hingis' big comeback was ended during the quarterfinals by Kim Clijsters, who subsequently withdrew from her semi-final match with Amelia Mauresmo. Justine Henin-Hardenne knocked out Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova in turn, leaving Mauresmo and Henin to do battle in tomorrow's final.