Baghdatis is arguably the most successful sportsman that Cyprus has ever produced. He began playing aged jut five with his father and brother, moving to Paris on a tennis scholarship when he was 14. In 2003 he was the number one junior player in the world, turning professional later that same year.
He made history in January 2006 when he reached the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne, eventually going down in four sets to Roger Federer. Later that same year, he won his first ATP title, the Beijing Open in China.
He would go on to win three more singles and one doubles title, the 2012 Zagreb Indoor title with partner Mikhail Youzhny, but then he was hit by injury, and a loss of form, and began to slide down the world rankings. He enjoyed something of a renaissance though on the Challenger circuit, winning a number of titles, the last of which came in Shenzhen this March. However, this summer he decided to retire in order to spend more time with his family, including his wife, former Croatian tennis player Karoline prem, bowing out of the sport after his second round defeat to Brayden Schnur of Canada at Wimbledon.
Now he is back to try to help steer Svitolina, who has won 13 WTA titles in her career to date, to the top of the womens game. 2019 was something of a barren year for the Ukrainian she failed to add to her title haul in the year. However, she was a semi-finalist in Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, and made the last eight in the other two Grand Slams, Melbourne and Roland Garros.
She also made it through to the final of the WTA Finals for the second successive year, but was unable to defend the title that she won in 2018, losing to the world number one, Ashleigh Barty of Australia, in straight sets.