Elina Svitolina surprised after she revealed that she hired freshly retired Marcos Baghdatis as her new coach. However, not many are aware that Elina and Marcos have already a “coaching history” as the Cypriot helped Svitolina in the recent past.
It was Elina to disclose it during an interview with the Ukrainian website BTU. When asked about their collaboration, Svitolina commented:
“I met Marcos at the Champions Tennis League team tournament in India in 2015 and already there he helped me in many matters. Then I still worked with coach Ian Hughes. Baghdatis is a high-level athlete, he understands what I may be missing, some small issues that are very important at this level. He can help me in difficult game situations, since he himself went through these difficulties and sees these moments from a player’s perspective.
Marcos helped me a lot during the WTA Finals in Singapore in 2018. He was not there, but I talked with him and his advice helped me a lot on a mental level. Even then, I asked if he would like to help me as a coach, but at that moment he was still playing and this was not possible. I always wanted to work with him. Together with Andrew Bettles, we came to the conclusion that Baghdatis is the person who can help me in tennis and I am grateful to Andy that he took this step and agreed to work together with Marcos.”
It will be interesting to see how this partnership will evolve.
Elina Svitolina’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.6, the Ukrainian played her last match on the 3rd of November when she had to bow to Ashleigh Barty 6-4 6-3 in the final in Shenzhen.
Elina Svitolina’s best performance of the present season was getting to the final in Shenzhen.
Marcos Baghdatis’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.180, Marcos played his last match on the 4th of July when he lost to Matteo Berrettini 6-1 7-64 6-3 in the 2nd round in Wimbledon.
This year Baghdatis has a 17-10 win-loss record. Baghdatis conquered 1 title in the Shenzhen Challenger.
