The King of grass tournaments - Wimbledon 2008

[Dina]

just found this one pretty interesting to read! This guy always inspired me a lot of respect, my hat's off NOle!

Wednesday, 25 June 2008


M. SAFIN bt N. Djokovic 6-4, 7-6, 6-2

An interview with: NOVAK DJOKOVIC

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Novak.


Q. Was it a bad day at the office for you or a very good day for Safin, a bit of both? What surprised you most?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it was certainly a very bad day for me. I didn't do anything that I was supposed to do. He was very solid in all segments of the game. He was serving well, and like that, putting a lot of pressure on me.


I was serving a lot of double-faults, which is unusual. I was just not finding my momentum, that's all. What can I do? I mean, it's a straight-sets win. I didn't expect it, honestly saying. I knew he's a very tough player to play against - even today - on any surfaces. Especially playing him on Centre Court obviously motivates him more to do well. Nobody expect from him too much.


Q. You finally did find your serve a little bit midway through the second set and got into the tiebreak. You lost it again. After the frustration of finding your serve and losing the tiebreak, did you just not feel like you could give everything you had in the third set?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I was trying, you know. I kept on trying, even though after the second set I tried to come back. It's not that I gave up. You know, I knew that I can turn around at any second.


Safin is a player who is known as a big talent, very powerful groundstroke player. But, again, he makes a lot of unforced errors. I had these opportunities, a couple of opportunities, on his service games when it was 30-All, 15-30, deuce. But then I just -- I just -- I made some unforced errors, which were really uncharacteristic, without any sense.


So he was just very consistent with all the strokes and he was mentally there. Every point he was going slowly, and opposite of me. I was having a lot of ups and downs. When I found my momentum, I couldn't keep it.


Q. You talked about the double-faults and the unforced errors. John McEnroe said after the match he thought you looked tired and that maybe you had played too many matches. What do you think?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You know, tired mentally, probably I'd say yes. It's been a long season, even though it's only halfway through. But physically I wasn't tired, and that was not the explanation why I lost today. He was just better than me on the court. I had very bad day, and that's it.


Q. Have you seen him play that well in recent years?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I haven't watched him, you know, a lot in last two years. You know, Safin still has his ups and downs. He's known for his, you know, mental instability in some ways. But he's still a great player. I mean, he's still not too old. He's playing well. He's moving well. He wants to go back. You know, he wants to step it up again and try to get far in a major.


This is a good way to start.


Q. You said you were mentally tired. Is it the travelling, so much matches, dealing with the press every day, day after day?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, it's a part of my life and I have to accept it. You know, obviously everything from all.


Q. There was a sort of warm embrace between the two of you at the end. Do you know each other particularly well, or do you just get on well?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, we know each other off the court as well pretty good. I mean, we've been practicing. When I was a junior I looked at him as one of the, you know, greatest players, one of the idols. So I admired the way he plays.


At the times when I was junior he was, you know, the top of the world. I used to practice with him, because we had then, and still we have, the same manager.


I have a lot of respect for him. Maybe that played a role today in the match.


Q. Considering instability, can we say you were waiting for him to make his usual mistakes, but they were just not coming today?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. This was one of the things that went wrong. I shouldn't just wait for the mistakes. I was supposed to go for the shots and play aggressive style that I always play.


But it wasn't my day.


Q. Which of these two matches against Marat hurts the most: getting completely crushed at the Australian Open or here where you're the No. 3 seed and have established yourself as a top player, losing to a No. 65?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, I don't compare it at all. I mean, this first match we played was three, four years ago. I was still very young and it was my first Grand Slam. It was understandable at the time. He won this tournament. He was playing extremely well.


I cannot compare it. Now, I'm much more matured, better experienced player in general. But, you know, I don't -- I try to look at it as positive as much as I can. It's a loss, but it's a part of the sport.


You know, life goes on. What can we do? There is still a long way through.


Q. Just an observation, but you didn't appear to be wearing your normal brand of shoe today. Do you have an issue with the grass?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I have issue with the grass. I was wearing another brand of the shoe. This was agreement between adidas and myself. I had a lot of difficulties with the movement, especially in Queen's this year, and even in the past years.


I just tried to make -- we just tried to have agreement and the best possible solution. So I thank them for the support, because it was a big step for all of us. A bit risky, but it was the only way that I could imagine myself far in the tournament. This was the difference that I felt that we can improve on.


Q. Because you had the problem last year that forced you to withdraw?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, that was one of the reasons.


Q. Must be a little bit of a strange feeling. It's been a while since you lost this early in a Grand Slam.


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: What I'm going to do (smiling)?


Q. What are you going to do to regroup from here? Any lessons you've taken away from it at this point?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'm going to probably stay another week and watch matches. No (laughter).


I'm going to go home - home sweet home.


Q. How will you regroup? What will you do?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'll rest a little bit. Without the racquet. I'll leave the racquets at home and I'll go somewhere many miles away.


Q. Safin has been No. 1 in the world. He played very well everywhere, but not that well normally on grass. He lost many matches in his life on grass. Do you think today he was playing extremely well or it was just you?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It was mostly me. You know, I said on the start that he was very solid in all sides. He was playing with not much unforced errors from the back, good return. But I wasn't doing anything to hurt him, you know. My serve, even when I had the high percentage of the first serve, it was going on his racquet. No angles, no precision whatsoever.


Yes, he was playing well today. He didn't play extremely well, but he was playing enough, you know, to win.


Q. How big of a chance do you give Safin at this Wimbledon? How big a chance do you give to the Russians at the Euro Cup, if you're watching?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Safin, if he plays this well, can get far. This is a question of the time and the day, so every match is different. You can't really predict what's going to happen, but I wish him well.


And Euro Cup, I hope Russia wins.


Q. Given the fact that you reached the semifinals here last year and your excellent results since, can you just sort for us how disappointing it is to be going out this early?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's quite disappointing, of course. A lot of expectations from my side and all the people that are following my career, of course, and the tennis lovers here in UK and worldwide.


But what can I do? This is just part of the sport, a loss. I just have to take the best things out of it and use it for the future. You know, certainly I expected to go far, because I know I have enough quality to do so. Last year I've been performing pretty good tennis on grass.


Finals of Queen's came up in the right moment, gave me a lot of confidence, boost up. But, you know, it can change.

[yarina]

I guess this is a reconfirmation that he indeed is a true champ...not that we did not know it, but reconfirming it from time to time and when we least expect him (and trust him) is just beautiful.

I honestly do not care if Marat loses to Seppi in his next match, I don't think that matters, really: this match mattered and he won this one in straight sets. Of course we'd love to see him going far, but even if he doesn't that does not make this less of a victory.

I could not watch the match entirely - I was listening to the commentary though, so cannot wait to see the reply tonight!

Very well done to you, Marat!

[arvind13]

I think Marat will beat Seppi

[jenhatter06]

Day 3 - Wednesday - Results:

Federer d Soderling 63 64 76
Safin d Djokovic 64 76 62
Baghdatis d Johansson 64 64 64
Hewitt d Montanes 76 60 62
Zverev d Ferrero 64 64 21 ret
Wawrinka d del Potro 76 63 75
Seppi d Serra 63 67 62 67 64
Lopez d Karanusic 63 63 64
Bolelli d Gonzalez 76 67 63 76
Reynolds d Dancevic 46 76 64 64

in the fading light, matches that looked like they wouldn't finish ended in a hurry:
Ferrer d Andreev 36 63 64 62
Stadler d Bellucci 36 63 61 67 86
Berdych d Hanescu 67 76 61 62
Verdasco d Rochus 76 67 61 61
Ancic d Petzschner 61 64 67 46 63
Gicquel d Bozoljac 46 57 76 76 63

and Ana squeaks by in her match against Dechy -- which lasted almost 3 1/2 hours !!

[ignacita]

Of course it matters if he loses his next match! Lack of confidence in himself is what more troubles causes to him. So if he wins the next one, we'll be able to see, perhaps, a reborn Marat!!! I really hope so!!

[maryb]

Safin crushes Djokovic at Wimbledon

Marat Safin's victory over Novak Djokovic underlined his status as one of the game's greatest and most unpredictable talents

Xan Brooks guardian.co.uk, Wednesday June 25, 2008
Marat Safin rolled back the years on Centre Court.

Marat Safin turned back the clock on Wimbledon's Centre Court to demolish third seed Novak Djokovic. The Russian former world No1 triumphed 6-4, 7-6, 6-2, producing a masterclass of brutal serves and heavyweight ground strokes that had the Serb reeling. In the end it was all too much. Djokovic conceded with a feeble double-fault into the net.

Safin remains one of the great enigmas of world tennis. When he destroyed Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final, a glittering future seemed assured. Even as recently as 2005, he seemed the man most likely to break the Federer dominance, up-ending the Swiss on his way to winning the Australian Open.

Since then, however, he has found himself forced to the sidelines as Djokovic and Rafael Nadal stole his thunder. Today's victory had a definite whiff of revenge. It was a good old fashioned pasting.

After exchanging breaks early in the first set, the Russian went into overdrive. By contrast, Djokovic appeared edgy and intimidated, struggling to match Safin from the baseline and frequently rocked back on his heels when the Russian teed off on his returns. The writing was on the wall when he slid to 1-6 in the second set tie-break. Safin simply opened his shoulders and finished him off.

Djokovic was a semi-finalist here last year, and many tipped him to go further this time. But the script has now been rewritten, with the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic stranglehold broken by one of the game's mightiest, most unpredictable talents.

"It [the victory] came at the right moment because I have a lack of confidence and lack of match fitness," said Safin. "To beat Djokovic in the Centre Court at Wimbledon, especially which is not my perfect surface, it was a great match. I haven't won a match like this in a long time. The way I'm playing now I think I can go far."

Safin will face Italian Andreas Seppi in the third round, while Djokovic will be followed through the exit gate by fellow seed Fernando Gonzalez, the world No14, who was beaten in four sets by Simone Bolelli, the Italian world No46.

Defending champion Roger Federer eased through to the third round in straight sets, taking exactly two hours to see off the Swede Robin Soderling.

[yarina]

Jun 25, 2008 22:50:54 GMT 3 Dina said:

just found this one pretty interesting to read! This guy always inspired me a lot of respect, my hat's off NOle!

Hmmm....I don't think Marat likes him too much (see his answer about Nole being a great "answerer" and very good for the journos....), and to be honest, neither do I: I have a lot of respect for his achievements, but I find the guy rather fake most of the times (but I obviously may be very wrong) and a tad too proud too early in his career, but again he's so very young...I do think he likes Marat though: to be more precise, I think he'd like to be like Marat

[Anne]

I do agree in some sort of way with you Yarina.
If you look at the statistics of this match, 28 ue aren't that much am I right? Especially compared to Marat's last few bad matches.. what I'm trying to say here is that Djokovic said that he played REALLY BAD, and yes he could have done a lot better today but he didn't even make that much errors did he? Marat was just REALLY GOOD! He made it sound that Marat's win was due to his bad play and errors. I think Marat answers the questions right and always with respect to other players. Not that Nole doesn't, but like you said Yarina, he's still very young and I always feel with him, I might be wrong but this is how I feel about him, that he cannot really deal with his loss in an early stage which I totally understands but his losses aren't really due to the great match of his opponent. At least not in this case, he thinks.

[justsafin]

W: His Day in Court
Posted 06/25/2008 @ 2 :00 PM by Steve Tignor

Safin_3I was stuck at the entrance to Centre Court’s press section this afternoon, waiting for a changeover. The electronic scoreboard above the doorway said the score of the Novak Djokovic-Marat Safin match was 5-4, but I couldn’t tell who was ahead. When the game ended, someone had won 6-4. I assumed it was Djokovic. It wasn’t until the end of the second game that I looked closer and saw that it was old man Safin who had won the first set after all.

It should have been easy to tell. As the teenage British girl behind me said, in disgust, about her man Djokovic: “Look at the buddy langwaj!” (That's "body language" to you and me.) She was right. Djokovic was slump-shouldered; more than that, he seemed physically diminished by the hulking presence of Safin across the net.

This was one of those breezy, cloudy days at Wimbledon where the sun comes in and out every 30 seconds. Centre Court changed from yellow to green like a slow-blinking warning light. More important, this was one of those days when Safin had a grip on that most elusive aspect of his game: his focus. With him, you can often see whether he’s going to win a match in the first few minutes. It’s not a question of whether he gets angry or loses his temper; it’s a question of whether he does it at the appropriate moments. At the start of the second set today, he let out a grunt of disapproval after netting a forehand that could have put him up 15-40 on Djokovic’s serve. That was a good sign from Safin. On some days, at this stage of the match he might throw his hands in the air and plead to the heavens: “Why me?”

The Russian was the stronger presence today, not just from a physical standpoint, but from a ball-striking standpoint as well. His serves, returns, forehands, and backhands were all heavier and deeper than Djokovic’s. The Serb stayed close in the second set, but there was a sense that he was hanging by a thread, scraping to stay in rallies, and relying on his first serve to keep him going. The question was whether Safin's heavier hitting would be enough to counteract the inevitable unforced errors that would come from his racquet. He plays a more dramatic, higher-risk game than Djokovic, who was cast in the role of the safe and steady technocrat today. The Serb looked harassed and off-balance all afternoon.

Centre Court is a place for drama, and Safin commanded the stage in leading-man style. When he got ahold of a down-the-line forehand at 4-5 in the second, the shot made that old Safin sound, a wallop that brought back memories of the 2000 U.S. Open and especially the 2005 Australian Open. In the tiebreaker and the third set, Safin’s return was a major weapon. The toughest serve to return on grass is the slice out wide in the deuce court—it doesn’t need to be perfect to win you the point on this surface—but Safin was anticipating it. And when he got into a backhand return, he was taking the initiative in the point. Has the return become the most important shot on grass?

At the end, Djokovic was rushing, and Safin punctuated the day with another rifle backhand—there was that sound again—down the line to give him two match points. In his presser, Safin was humble, but he had the old sarcastic twinkle in his eye. He said he was ready to book his ticket to Moscow for tonight, and that his new success on his hated grass could be chalked up to the slower courts. I was surprised by how much he was enjoying himself. That’s a product of winning, but even when he was at the top of his game there was a miserable aspect to him. I’ve often thought that Safin kept going only out of a sense of guilt about his world-class talent. But he sounded upbeat when he talked about his recent training and how hard it’s been not to see results. For today, at least, he was a kinder, gentler, more at ease Marat. Thursday, when he faces the tricky Italian Andreas Seppi, that man may or may not still be around.

As for Djokovic, he had his first off-day at a major in two years. He said he was mentally tired from the tour, but this was his job. He credited Safin, but said the loss was mainly due to his inability to force the action. He hinted that he might have shown too much respect for one of his heroes and friends, and that he waited too long for the Russian to begin making errors. Djokovic looked drawn and a little down in his presser, but he had his sense of humor intact. He said, off-handedly, that Safin was known for his “mental instability.” He didn’t mean it come off like the guy’s insane, but that’s how it sounded, and some reporters started to laugh. He couldn’t suppress a smile himself.

I’ve always thought Safin suffered less from mental instability than from a lack of killer instinct and, as a Russian of his generation, perhaps not enough cultural confidence to be a long-term world No. 1. Either way, he’s one of the very few multiple-major champions who has never made a serious mark on Centre Court. Even today, when he owned that arena, he was typically sardonic and self-deprecating in his press conference, and he took only the barest of curtain calls from the fans. Yesterday Fabrice Santoro finally had his day on Centre Court, today it was Safin. Here’s hoping he has a few more.

[justsafin]

Jun 26, 2008 0:41:12 GMT 3 yarina said:

Jun 25, 2008 22:50:54 GMT 3 Dina said:

just found this one pretty interesting to read! This guy always inspired me a lot of respect, my hat's off NOle!

Hmmm....I don't think Marat likes him too much (see his answer about Nole being a great "answerer" and very good for the journos....), and to be honest, neither do I: I have a lot of respect for his achievements, but I find the guy rather fake most of the times (but I obviously may be very wrong) and a tad too proud too early in his career, but again he's so very young...I do think he likes Marat though: to be more precise, I think he'd like to be like Marat

They both are charismatic characters, but very different in nature. Somehow I feel the same, yarina (I could be wrong, too)...based on lots of recent matches and personal encounters at Cincy last year. Marat simply doesn't care what people think of him and never bothers to please journalists nor tries to be funny. His humor is just so natural.

But anyways, from the embrace and smiles at the end of the match, I really feel Nole's comment on Marat being his idol is true. (He adores Marat.) Did he smile like that when he beat Roger in AO? (I can't remember..)

AND AGREE, I don't think there will be anyone like Marat.

[jenhatter06]

quotage from Lleyton's interview re: Marat

Q. You're a guy who had a lot of success when you were young, like Novak. When you start to go consistently deep at majors and then have a setback, what do you do to regroup?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, I didn't see a point of the match, so it's hard to tell. Yeah, of course he'd be disappointed because he's been playing unbelievable tennis all this year.

When Marat's on, he's on, as well. I assume he must have played pretty good out there today. He's a tough player to come up against on any surface when he's on.

Yeah, I guess it will make him more hungry to come back here next year. You got to take some positives out of it. The way he played at Queen's was pretty positive, I think, on a grass court.

Q. You and Marat are sort of the same generation. Older guys still making a little bit of noise here.

LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I'm really happy for Marat. I get along really well with him. I've practiced a lot with him the last couple of years, but probably more so this year, as well.

I played him in Las Vegas earlier this year. I kind of felt sorry for him on the court. He was terrible. So for him to come out and be able to turn it around and play like this in a big tournament, yeah, it's fantastic for him, really is.

[Patxy]

[hellanvodka]

Jun 25, 2008 22:56:27 GMT 3 yarina said:

I guess this is a reconfirmation that he indeed is a true champ...not that we did not know it, but reconfirming it from time to time and when we least expect him (and trust him) is just beautiful.

Thanks Yarina!
Exactly how I felt...Mate, u are reading my mind!
Hope this victory will bring him load of confidence and of course lift up his mood!
Good luck Marat!

p.s. Watched on live stream yesterday, wanna to watch it again, damn Aussie foxtel is re-playing stupid Hewitt, had to turn off the Tv to avoid blast lol

p.p.s. Mary, Fairy dust works! You absolutely rock! dadadadaa....fairy dance lol....... hats off from the pixie lol

[maryb]

In the queue - 6550. Lovely sunny day, only a little wind. Have enjoyed reading the coverage of the match this morning.LMAO, told him he could play on grass ... And keep the temper under control. He's relaxed, and that's helping his game. Keep it up boy, you're sparkling again. If you were courtside guys, you'd appreciate seeing the shoulders loosen and that ball getting one hell of a thump. Would love to stand on the other side of the net just once to 'see' that serve coming down at me, LMAO.

He's on fire. Probably allergic to fairy dust ... Same as grass. Moo.

Will be heading to practice courts for my lunch when I get in, then off to court 11 again. Robredo v Haas. Should be a good one.

Last night, I had a look at the videos I've gathered up over the last few days, loved capturing the winning moment on the big screen. Nice to hear the appreciation of those left on the hill ... we'd lost the will to live being subjected to Ana's match. Everyone appreciated at least getting to see the moment. And what a moment. LMAO.

[annie]

I only saw the replay on star sports...and they even cut it short..not showing some games in between...

but i loved it still. he was playing great, moving great...he was fantastic. And yes, this gives me great hope for the coming rounds...so goodluck to him....