Post by Annie on Jun 26, 2006 9:50:51 GMT 3
Translation from Italian and newspaper scans by aletia 
If you plan on posting this somewhere else please give credeit to aletia and make a note that you found this on TGFR. Thank you ;D
“When he humiliated Pete Sampras in the final of US Open 2000,everyone thought that the tennis had found a new boss.Marat Safin had everything to remain at the peak (at the top): force,talent,physique,personality. But for succeed it´s necessary to limit your bad habits. Too much complicated for Marat,a dude who has “closed” more discotheques than Christian Vieri (football player),who has won (Marat) tournaments staying til 4 in the morning everyday and who has split more than 40 rackets in his best year.There is who thinks that have been the women to ruin him,and he answers that he has always had more hard work to chase them away from the room rather than make them enter to it. The result is that ,from the first place of the ranking in november 6 years ago,now is he in an anonymous 53 position. A wasted talent? We have met him after the umpteenth misfortune of the season and ,at least with us,he has begun commanding the game:
“Do you think we will manage to do a whole interview without asking me if I am the only one who can beat Federer and Nadal?”
It´s a little bit difficult,seeing that every tecnic (experts in tennis..) talk about it....
And I am tired of it.What does it mean that I´m the only one who can beat them? Apart from that others have managed to do it and I have ever not even met Nadal!So I answer immediately: I couldn´t care less about beating Federer and Nadal. If I meet them in the draw,I will try, but I´ don´t get up in the morning thinking that the duty of my life is to stop both of them.By now I ´m only thinking about recover me physically.
An injury with the knee needs a long time to recover from: what have you done during the recovery?
The work in the gym was boring.So,when I could move I thought in enjoying. So I went fishing,to relax me,to think. Then I went out with friends,like any boy who has 26 years old.
This year the results fail but you don´t seem particularly distraught: Is tennis a priority in your life yet?
Sure,it´s my job. Without tennis I wouldn´t get money,tennis is what I can make better in my life and they pay well for do it.
Therefore is the money your principal motivation?
Is there someone who likes working for free? Wining Roland Garros is fantastic,the trophy,the headlines in the journals,the crowd that acclaim you,but I think also Federer and Nadal are happy to
bring home a million euro in two weeks. Doing something you like a lot and being paid for do it is a great luck. The thing I don´t like is to be judged for how much I train,for what I should do or should be. And then tennis is an honest sport: you earn depending on how much you win,so we steal nothing.
But the adrenaline of the victory,the fight for being the number one:is it possible that it´s all a past story?
In words it would be easy to say that I´m ready to win a Slam,to beat Federer,to dominate tennis. But in the end they don´t give you a point for having good words. What sense has to say certain things and then loose at the first round? The tecnics (experts,coaches,...) think that I can come back to number one of the world,but in reality,for them,how much cost to say it?
The critics arrive because displease to see a great talent not to reach the results that you deserve.
I´m 26 years old and I´ve past the last 8 in the circuit. I´ve been the number one of the world and I know very well what serves to stay in the top,to pass over the negative moments. Despite of it I don´t want to live frustrated for have lost a match. Attention:I don´t like losing,but as soon as I finish the match I disconnected of the world of tennis,I´ve near me the people I love and then I remenber that I have another life beyond this I have on the court.
Does it mean that you are less interested in success?
It means that I´m more mature.I see things under a different perspective:if I win,good;if I lose I don´t stay closed in the room of a hotel crying,I think that the next week I will have another chance. And we don´t have to forget that I´m still coming back of a bad injury. It needs time to find again the
optimun condition.
Marat Safin wise and calm: it´s a good change,isn´t it?
I´m more stable. In the last years I have always been surrounded of famous people,I have lived very strong sensations,I have felt a lot of things. In 8 years of profesional career I´ve had experiences that a normal person doesn´t live in a hundred of years. Now I want to be more relaxed and if I´m not in the top ten of the best players of the world.....patience.
You seems to be a big playboy: you are more relaxed aswell on this now?
If you are famous,rich and you attend to good circles (I don´t know how to translate this word
), it´s not difficult to meet a beautiful girl. People talk as if women have ruined me,but when I was number one of the world they (women) came to call my door too. Nevertheless I won the same. I´ve had fiancee for 3 years and I was nearly to stablish a family,but in these cases is the woman who decides.
Do you think that after finish your career you will invest in the sport?
No,in no way. Unless that I decide to lose some money.
Nevertheless if a swiss businessman hadn´t invest in you when you were a child maybe we hadn´t hear about Marat Safin...
Between his money and my money it´s a big difference: he managed a bank in Switzerland. He was a friend of a friend of a friend....He invested 300,000 dollar because he made business with a person near of me and I was ...in the “package”. Part I have return it,in part a sponsor have return it,but it has been a favour to a friend,not a studied business for speculate. Noone would invest 300,000 dollar
in a young tennis player thinking on seeing him returning with interests.
But now you would bet 300,000 dollar in Marat Safin coming back number one of the world?
Profesional players can´t bet.....
If you plan on posting this somewhere else please give credeit to aletia and make a note that you found this on TGFR. Thank you ;D
“When he humiliated Pete Sampras in the final of US Open 2000,everyone thought that the tennis had found a new boss.Marat Safin had everything to remain at the peak (at the top): force,talent,physique,personality. But for succeed it´s necessary to limit your bad habits. Too much complicated for Marat,a dude who has “closed” more discotheques than Christian Vieri (football player),who has won (Marat) tournaments staying til 4 in the morning everyday and who has split more than 40 rackets in his best year.There is who thinks that have been the women to ruin him,and he answers that he has always had more hard work to chase them away from the room rather than make them enter to it. The result is that ,from the first place of the ranking in november 6 years ago,now is he in an anonymous 53 position. A wasted talent? We have met him after the umpteenth misfortune of the season and ,at least with us,he has begun commanding the game:
“Do you think we will manage to do a whole interview without asking me if I am the only one who can beat Federer and Nadal?”
It´s a little bit difficult,seeing that every tecnic (experts in tennis..) talk about it....
And I am tired of it.What does it mean that I´m the only one who can beat them? Apart from that others have managed to do it and I have ever not even met Nadal!So I answer immediately: I couldn´t care less about beating Federer and Nadal. If I meet them in the draw,I will try, but I´ don´t get up in the morning thinking that the duty of my life is to stop both of them.By now I ´m only thinking about recover me physically.
An injury with the knee needs a long time to recover from: what have you done during the recovery?
The work in the gym was boring.So,when I could move I thought in enjoying. So I went fishing,to relax me,to think. Then I went out with friends,like any boy who has 26 years old.
This year the results fail but you don´t seem particularly distraught: Is tennis a priority in your life yet?
Sure,it´s my job. Without tennis I wouldn´t get money,tennis is what I can make better in my life and they pay well for do it.
Therefore is the money your principal motivation?
Is there someone who likes working for free? Wining Roland Garros is fantastic,the trophy,the headlines in the journals,the crowd that acclaim you,but I think also Federer and Nadal are happy to
bring home a million euro in two weeks. Doing something you like a lot and being paid for do it is a great luck. The thing I don´t like is to be judged for how much I train,for what I should do or should be. And then tennis is an honest sport: you earn depending on how much you win,so we steal nothing.
But the adrenaline of the victory,the fight for being the number one:is it possible that it´s all a past story?
In words it would be easy to say that I´m ready to win a Slam,to beat Federer,to dominate tennis. But in the end they don´t give you a point for having good words. What sense has to say certain things and then loose at the first round? The tecnics (experts,coaches,...) think that I can come back to number one of the world,but in reality,for them,how much cost to say it?
The critics arrive because displease to see a great talent not to reach the results that you deserve.
I´m 26 years old and I´ve past the last 8 in the circuit. I´ve been the number one of the world and I know very well what serves to stay in the top,to pass over the negative moments. Despite of it I don´t want to live frustrated for have lost a match. Attention:I don´t like losing,but as soon as I finish the match I disconnected of the world of tennis,I´ve near me the people I love and then I remenber that I have another life beyond this I have on the court.
Does it mean that you are less interested in success?
It means that I´m more mature.I see things under a different perspective:if I win,good;if I lose I don´t stay closed in the room of a hotel crying,I think that the next week I will have another chance. And we don´t have to forget that I´m still coming back of a bad injury. It needs time to find again the
optimun condition.
Marat Safin wise and calm: it´s a good change,isn´t it?
I´m more stable. In the last years I have always been surrounded of famous people,I have lived very strong sensations,I have felt a lot of things. In 8 years of profesional career I´ve had experiences that a normal person doesn´t live in a hundred of years. Now I want to be more relaxed and if I´m not in the top ten of the best players of the world.....patience.
You seems to be a big playboy: you are more relaxed aswell on this now?
If you are famous,rich and you attend to good circles (I don´t know how to translate this word
), it´s not difficult to meet a beautiful girl. People talk as if women have ruined me,but when I was number one of the world they (women) came to call my door too. Nevertheless I won the same. I´ve had fiancee for 3 years and I was nearly to stablish a family,but in these cases is the woman who decides.Do you think that after finish your career you will invest in the sport?
No,in no way. Unless that I decide to lose some money.
Nevertheless if a swiss businessman hadn´t invest in you when you were a child maybe we hadn´t hear about Marat Safin...
Between his money and my money it´s a big difference: he managed a bank in Switzerland. He was a friend of a friend of a friend....He invested 300,000 dollar because he made business with a person near of me and I was ...in the “package”. Part I have return it,in part a sponsor have return it,but it has been a favour to a friend,not a studied business for speculate. Noone would invest 300,000 dollar
in a young tennis player thinking on seeing him returning with interests.
But now you would bet 300,000 dollar in Marat Safin coming back number one of the world?
Profesional players can´t bet.....
).He has won more than 12 million dollars in prizes.A bad injury in the knee constrained him to be out the second part of the last season,meanwhile,this year his best result was the semifinal in the Valencia tournament in the middle of April."
The translation is: 
) In the 90´s,the croatian Goran Ivanisevic is the only player who lost a match Atp because....he finished with the rackets,in 23 november 2000 he destroyed all during a match at the Brighton tournament.Andre Agassi,when he was young,was far from being a saint: in the Bollettieri Academy they dismissed him after he arrives to a tournament for young players with his nails painted of pink colour and his eyes drawed with black make-up. Among the bad boys it can´t be missed John McEnroe (with a disqualification in Queens for suggesting a woman the unnatural use of the racket´s butt 
) and then Jimmy Connors who said the best complaint against the Littlefield umpire: "If I think on a curse (dirty word) you can disqualifyed me? No? Then I think you are a fuc**** assh***".[/b] 