Tennis: 'Miracle' player's family to fly out to be courtside

The achievements of unheralded Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis at the Australian Open this week have so overwhelmed the citizens of his home country that the Cyprus government is paying to send his family members all the way to Melbourne, Australia for Sunday's final.

The newspaper The Cyprus Weekly is reporting on its website that the state will pick up the tab for flying the Baghdatis family out to Australia to watch Marcos play in the final against either favourite Roger Federer or Germany's Nicolas Kiefer.

The government is stepping in because the Baghdatis family doesn't have the financial means to consider the trip, the website reported.

Meanwhile, 'Marcos-mania' has well and truly gripped the Mediterranean island. Parties in the streets, cars honking horns and fans leaping into fountains in town squares, have all followed his unlikley victories against the odds.

Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos paid tribute to the Bagdhatis success story after last night's triumph.

"I warmly congratulate our compatriot for his impressive advance to the Australian Open final," he said in a statement.

"It's truly been a miracle run so far."

He said the young man's achievements so far already warrant "induction into the hall of fame" of Cyprus's sporting heroes.

Baghdatis, whose father is Lebanese, has been headline news since the tournament started and the biggest roar of all will resound across Cyprus if he manages to lift the trophy on Sunday, the paper said.

Shortly after the emotional roller-coaster in Melbourne, Baghdatis phoned home.

"All of Cyprus loves you son," his tearful mother Androulla is reported to have told the emotional player, speaking from the family's modest home in the small town of Paramytha.

No Cypriot has ever ventured so far in a major tennis tournament and the country was glued to their television sets for the three-and-half-hour Melbourne drama, with special large screens set up in public places.