The young pretenders

Dubai: Trivia question: Why does Marcos Baghdatis consider seven his lucky number?

Answer: He beat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2010 in his seventh attempt.

The flamboyant Cypriot, who won his fourth career title at the start of the year, will be hoping to start 2011 with a bang as well when he takes on Czech Tomas Berdych at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship to be held from December 30 to January 1 in Abu Dhabi.

A crowd favourite wherever he plays, 25-year-old Baghdatis has made the final of three ATP World Tour events in 2010, winning in Sydney and his return to the top-20 shows he is getting back to his best, something he told XPRESS ahead of the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. "The last couple of years have been really tough for me. I had a problem with my wrist and then with my back.

Sydney turnaround

"It was very frustrating for me not to be able to play and I missed it a lot. But I managed to get healthy and play some challengers and I had some good wins there before playing in Sweden and winning the title in Sydney," he said, adding: "Winning Sydney this year gave me a lot of confidence. It told me that I am able to compete with the best players, so you never know. I would like to come back to the top 10, it was a good feeling when I was there, so hopefully I can make it back there with some good results."

The former World No. 8 will renew a fierce rivalry with Berdych having shared two victories each in their four previous encounters. For the winner a semi-final clash against world number one Rafael Nadal on day two of the championship lies in wait with both players relishing the prospect of breaking the deadlock to kickstart the new season.

"Last year I started to get back to my very best so I cannot wait to start my season in Abu Dhabi against a quality field in preparation for the Australian Open. Over the years I've had some great battles with Tomas and I'm expecting another very close match but hopefully the fans at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship will see me as the ‘local player' and show me their support."

Berdych reached the semi-final of Roland Garros before grabbing the world's attention at Wimbledon defeating six-time champion Federer in the quarter-finals and World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals before falling to Nadal in the final.

"It was just a matter of time, I guess. Everything is working well now. I am feeling much more confident on court. I am stronger physically and mentally. All those factors have contributed to the good results this year," he told XPRESS.

Speaking of his debut in Abu Dhabi the World No. 6 said: "Abu Dhabi sounds like the ideal place to get match-fit and check out the form of the other players. Matches with Marcos are always tough which is exactly what I need in the build-up to the Australian Open."

 Tickets

For the showpiece can be purchased now at www.thinkflash.ae  or call 800 FLASH (35274), as well as www.boxofficeme.com, www.ticketingboxoffice.com and Virgin Megastores. For more information visit - www.mubadalawtc.com