DUBAI: UAE Crowd favourite Marcos Baghdatis is set to thrill once again when he returns to compete in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in just over two weeks time.

The charismatic Cypriot is making his fifth visit to Dubai and will be hoping that the draw will be a little kinder to him than it sometimes has been in the past.

But despite who he draws, Baghdatis could pose a serious threat this year and while he currently sits outside the top ten, history has shown that he should never be underestimated. He is adept at winning over the crowd and that could lift him enough to cause a major upset.

“The atmosphere is electric whenever Marcos Baghdatis steps onto the court, as the crowd knows that he will never give up a match easily no matter who the opponent,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman of Tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free. “He has provided great entertainment here over the years and we are delighted to welcome back to Dubai one of the game’s greatest showmen.”

Baghdatis began the 2013 season strongly by reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane where he narrowly lost to Grigor Dimitrov in a final set tiebreak, and he demonstrated his legendary fighting spirit when he won a five-set thriller in the opening round of the Australian Open.

When he made his Dubai debut in 2007 he came up against Rafael Nadal in his opening match but still took the world number two to three sets. In 2010 he thrilled his many fans when he went all the way to the semi-finals where he was finally defeated in three sets by eventual champion Novak Djokovic. The next year he was forced to retire from his opening match after losing the first four games to Andrey Golubev, and in 2012 he had the misfortune to be drawn against world number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.

Baghdatis will face a strong field as he attempts to repeat his 2010 success, with world number one Novak Djokovic seeking to regain the title he won for three straight years from 2009 and defending champion Roger Federer determined to win the event for a sixth time.

Also providing stiff opposition will be 2012 Davis Cup winner Tomas Berdych, another crowd favourite in two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the ever dangerous 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro.

The ATP World Tour event takes place between Feb. 25 and March 2 and follows the WTA tournament that features an incredible nine of the world’s top 10.

Beginning on Feb. 18, the greatest tennis show in the Middle East will feature Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams as well as former Grand Slam winners Petra Kvitova, Li Na, Ana Ivanovic, Samantha Stosur, as well as defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska.