Marcos Baghdatis, an Australian Open finalist in 2006, was still one of the top 20 men’s tennis players in the world 15 months ago. He could have taken a wild card entry into the $1.4 million US Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., this week.

Sania Mirza, a former top-30 player who this year won her first Grand Slam title in mixed doubles and made the second round of Wimbledon, could have gone to the $700,000 L.A. Women’s Tennis Championships.

Instead, both have bolstered the draw at West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club, where prize money for the Odlum Brown VanOpen is $100,000 US for the men and $75,000 for the women.

“It feels weird. It feels different,” Baghdatis said of playing a Challenger-level tournament like the VanOpen, events that are a step below the main tour, governed by the International Tennis Federation.

“You have pressure, you are favoured for the tournament, but there are some tough players and I’ll try to play four or five matches in one week, which is the goal. I haven’t done that for a year-and-a-half.”

On the long road back from injury, Baghdatis and Mirza are trying to find their rhythm again, and a few ranking points along the way. Cheques don’t matter.

Mirza will pocket $11,400 and earn 110 ranking points if she wins the VanOpen. In L.A., because she’s used up her wild card entries, she would have had to win two qualifying rounds, then three main draw matches against much tougher competition to earn the same number of points.

“When you are close to 80,” said 83rd-ranked Mirza, “100 points counts a lot.”

Washington’s winner earns $300,000 and 500 points, but Baghdatis is here, where the winner collects $14,400 and 90 points.

Baghdatis, currently No. 136 — down from a high of No. 8 three years ago — played in one other Challenger this year, losing in the first round of a clay-court event in April. Prior to that, you have to go back to 2005, before his magical run to the 2006 Australian Open final rocketed him into the Who’s Who of the ATP Tour.

Two weeks ago, Mirza won the $50,000 Lexington Challenger in Kentucky. Those were her first steps back on the lower loop since she burst on to the WTA Tour by reaching the Aussie Open third round in 2005. Her No. 83 ranking is down from No. 27.

“I don’t feel like I’m playing at a lower level because everyone here is good,” said Mirza. “There’s a lot more depth in women’s tennis and me being at a Challenger, I have to win it to prove myself.

“And this week feels like a tour event, it’s organized so well. The facilities are great, the transport, all the little things.”

Baghdatis is 24, Mirza only 22. Plenty of people, though, have written them off.

Critics question what Baghdatis eats and how hard he trains. In the past two years, he’s hurt his wrist, ankle, back and knee. They wonder if Mirza — sidelined by wrist, abdominal and knee injuries — was ever good enough to be more than a top-30 type.

It’s impossible to block out all the chatter, said Baghdatis, who’s expected to draw his usual throng of boisterous Cypriot and Greek fans this week. He opens against American Devin Britton at 6:30 p.m. tonight on Centre Court.