How did you become a Marat fan?

[Madou]

For me it was a bit special. I've always been liking tennis but in '98 I was more keen on Football (France 98... good memories, but i never looked at a match again since then ^^)
At this time, I was 11 years old and admired my brother a lot. I liked to watch tennis but didn't really know about this sport, and thought that my brother was good enough to go to Roland Garros (ah, what a stupid person I am ^^), so when I saw Marat for the first time, as he really looked like my bro (all people around me said so too), I naturally began to support him. Against Agassi (didn't like him at that time), Guga... and even Pioline (a French player ! For me it was like a treason to my country but I supported Marat anyway... He lost, I bring bad luck T_T).
Until then, my brother and him continued to grow, so that they don't look like each other anymore, but I've learned to know tennis better now and I definitely appreciate the way Marat's playing and his behaviour on the court (so much frustration, so much charisma, this guy is unbelievable !), so now I follow him virtually on every tournament !

[victoria415]

i am a chinese girl and my first time to see marat is in the beijing open's in 2004.i was enamoured while he was staring into the lens.from that on,i became amazed with him.
before that,my favourite tennis player was Roger Federer,i like marat and Roger because of their excellent skill, but now i love marat better because his charismatic personality,and he's so handsome.

i've let lots of my friends become his fans in recent several months,and he's so popular in our school now.i used to learn spanish because of AC milan,but now ,i've made a decision to learn Russian.because of marat-this guy from Russia.

so,i'm also became a super fans of marat.

[Jamie]

welcome, victoria! i'm from china too!! i hope you enjoy staying here and i'm sure you will~

[Ra]

I first heard about Marat in US Open 2000. I became a fan when he reached his first Australian Open final and have been an admirer ever since. I have not seen him play live, though I am hoping to see him either at AA Kid's Day or one of the weekend USO matches if I go this year.

[annie]

Victoria welcome to the club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great to have you with us

[Laney]

Hi everyone!
Well, I've been following tennis for quite a few years now, and Marat had definetely been one of my favourite players! But it wasn't until the AO that he really caught my eye, don't know why really, maybe it had something to do with the fact that he beat Lleyton (you know, after the break-up with our Belgian pride and joy Kim: I just felt so sorry for her, and for me as well, I was really looking forward to their wedding)! Anyway, I was really happy to see Marat winning another GS, the match was just great to watch, and his speech was so funny! I only discovered "The Guy from Russia" about two weeks ago, and I must admit I've been spending a lot of time just reading what's been going on on this message board (oops, I really should be studying, but hey, we're talking about Marat here: he's worth it!) And yes, I have absolutely fallen in love with the guy, not only is he drop dead gorgeous (I just loooooooove the curls!!!), he seems to have a great personality too, on and off court!
So thank you everyone for posting these entertaining messages here, it's made something to look forward to while studying!

[pau]

Welcome Victoria!!!!

[annie]

Welcome Victoria and laney!!

[iLuV_ARod_&_MaRaT]

I actually saw him in a pic.....
My sister's friend told me that he's the hottest guy in the world & i said "nah".....he's not that hot!!!but when i actually saw him play in this particular tourney,GosH!!!its like, i cant take my eyes of him.....he's so HOT!!!!& that's where i began to be a marat fan....& not only that, ive been so addicted to marat's pic, i actually have 10 diskettes, full of Marat's hottest pics.....

[annie]

wooohoooooooooo iLuV quite a collection girl!!!!!!!!!!!

[lau]

annie said:

wooohoooooooooo iLuV quite a collection girl!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!! I though the same thing!!

[shacks]

Hello guys,
As far as i’m concerned, i became a Safin fan by RG 98. I had always watched RG, as we have all the matches broadcasted here. But apart from Sampras who i liked the most, i didn’t think much of the sport as i thought it was a little boring and monotonuous and also missing interesting players.
I don’t remember the 1st match i saw him play, but from that moment on, i was done. I thought he was amazingly charismatic and full of talent. Watching him play was a true pleasure. I also appreciated the fact that he was a kid, and acting like one sometimes on the court. Now he’s more older, but still with so much personnality. He doesn’t cheat, doesn’t offend the other player. The more i “knew” the more i liked him. Even though he is a very private player, he also is the one showing the most philosophy, and taking tennis as it is: a game. A game i relly got into thanks to him. I started watching various tournaments, rankings. I remember listening to his finals against sampras on RADIO!!! It was in the middle of the night here, but i couldn’t sleep. Then he won, and injuries also got to him.
I missed his 2004 australian open, since i didn’t know he was back. But i caught things up, and thanks to the Internet we can now really know what is going on on the tennis planet.
I think about him almost everyday, and wish him so much good. He gives so much and plays so good that it makes him and amazing player to follow.
So far the ride has been quite something, and i never regreted jumping on this wagon even when it looked like it was going to crash!lol

[annie]

shacks said:

So far the ride has been quite something, and i never regreted jumping on this wagon even when it looked like it was going to crash!lol

LOL shacks..well said!!!!!!!!!! ;D

[annie]

Hmmm...yeah...but there's nothing to really worry about no? Seems the air bag is installed...

[annie]

rotflmaaaaaaaoooooooooooo annie....yup!!! and the breaks aren't that bad either