Baghdatis Up For a Challenge At Chengdu Open

Marcos Baghdatis attended the draw ceremony for the inaugural Chengdu Open on Saturday. The historic Chinese city, capital of Sichuan province, will host an ATP World Tour event for the first time. The state-of-the-art venue in Chengdu boasts a centre court capacity of 6000, two additional show courts with 2000 seats each, and a total of 20 hard courts and 12 indoor courts. Main draw action at the ATP World Tour 250 event will kick off on Monday.

“[Chengdu] is a great city and I am happy to be here,” Baghdatis said. “The environment is very beautiful here, the facilities are great and I am excited to get my tournament underway.”

The luck of the draw did Baghdatis no favours, as the Cypriot will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in his opening match. Carreno Busta, No. 39 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is just three spots below Baghdatis and recently won his maiden ATP World Tour title on the hard courts of Winston-Salem.

“He’s a very tough opponent to play against in the first round,” Baghdatis said. “He won a title not too long ago so he will be confident.”

The top seeds for the first-year event are Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Feliciano Lopez. All four players will receive first-round byes.

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