Until about a week ago, so a local friend told us, Cypriots had little interest in tennis. In fact, although they love watching sports, they insist they're just a small island, and nobody could expect them to have brilliant sports players. They cheer for Greece (the island almost erupted with joy when Greece won the European football cup a couple of years ago) but expect nothing of themselves.
Until now.
Marcos Baghdatis, an unseeded Cypriot tennis player, has beaten top international players in the Australian open, and has reached the final - to be played tomorrow evening (Australian time - ie tomorrow morning Cyprus time).
Suddenly, we're told, everybody wants to 'own' Baghdatis. If he wins, he'll be hailed as a national hero. Even if he doesn't, he's still made history by reaching the final and beating all those top seeds.
I guess we'll know if he's won by the noise level tomorrow mid-morning... if he wins, there will probably be cars everywhere, driving around honking horns and waving flags.
3 comments:
He's had a great tournament. I wonder if it's a one shot thing or a sign of things to come?
I saw some of the match. He looks pretty good. My wife watched it all, even though she knew the outcome; she was quite impressed with him.
I think there may be great things in store for him in the future, after his successses in the Ozzie Open, even though he didn't win the final. He's still pretty young. Cyprus will now consider itself a 'tennis-loving' country...
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