Mirnyi in the first round. At the Paris Masters, Baghdatis found good form. He reached the semifinals by defeating Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo. He then lost to second seed Rafael Nadal, in three sets. 2008: Injury-plagued Baghdatis started his season on the 2008 ATP Tour at the Chennai Open in India, where he lost to Robin Haase in the first round. At the Australian Open, Baghdatis defeated 2002 champion Thomas Johansson and 2005 champion Marat Safin, before losing in the third round to 2005 runner-up Lleyton Hewitt, in five sets. This match lasted 282 minutes, beginning at 11:52 pm and finishing at 4:34 am. At the French Open, he lost in the first round to Simone Bolelli in three sets. At the 2008 Halle Open in Germany, where he was the runner up in 2007, he lost to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. At the Wimbledon Championships, seeded tenth, Baghdatis progressed to the fourth round, where he lost to Feliciano López in five sets. Baghdatis suffered injuries for the remainder of the season and did not participate in the US Open. 2009: Injuries restrict, ends season with title Entering 2009, ranked No. 96 (his best having been 8) and having not played since the ATP Paris Masters in late October 2008, Baghdatis entered the Brisbane International in preparation for the Australian Open, losing in the opening round to Jarkko Nieminen. In the Australian Open, traditionally his best grand slam event, he began with a straight-sets win over 48th-ranked Frenchman Julien Benneteau and followed that up by ousting 16th-seed Robin Söderling in four sets and 23rd-seed Mardy Fish in straight sets to set up a fourth-round clash with third-seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic. The fourth round encounter with Djokovic started poorly for Baghdatis, going down 1–6 in the first set. The second set went into a tie-breaker, which Baghdatis lost 1–7. The third set went into another tie-breaker, but Baghdatis earned three set points, lost two of them on his own serve, and then took the tie-breaker on Djokovic's serve. After 3 hours and nearly 20 minutes, Baghdatis was unable to come back from an early break in the first game of the last set, as he missed two break opportunities and lost 1–6, 6–7, 7–6, 2–6. After the Australian Open, he played in the SA Tennis Open tournament in Johannesburg and was the eighth seed. He defeated Andrew