The King of grass tournaments - Wimbledon 2008

[sabz]

OMG THE TENNIS WAS AWESOME TODAY!!!!!!!
1st u had the marathon with bambi - wowza!!! but soooo happy for him!!
then marat made my day by winning in 4 - LOVE HIM!! and i have now converted my mother into a safin fan haha
and the murray match - I WAS LITERALLY JUMPING AND SCREAMING ALL OVER MY LIVING ROOM!!! the atmosphere on center looked incredible!! so happy he won!!!

but lets focus on THE man - mr. Marat Safin - who said grass is only for cows..................umm you are kinda proving yourself wrong there! lol solid performance with a few blips, but i can forgive
there are 2 many spaniards in this draw (no offence) so lets get rind of one Marat - DAVAI!!!!

[sabz]

interview isnt released yet but found this on the bbc website:

Safin beat Swiss 13th seed Stanislaw Wawrinka 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1 in his fourth round clash.

Safin, Russia's former US and Australian Open champion last reached the quarter-finals in 2001

"It was almost black and white TV, it was a long time ago," he joked. LMAO

"It was important to start well and hold my serve and be aggressive on his serve and that's what happened.

"I was not playing great tennis but I was in there fighting with him and I am happy with my performance." there is still more to come from him!!

He now plays left-hander Feliciano Lopez, 26, from Spain, who overcame Cypriot 10th seed Marcos Baghdatis 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 8-6.

[justsafin]

[Dina]

WE WANT AN INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FRUSTRATION NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jenhatter06]

Jun 30, 2008 23:30:53 GMT 3 davis said:

A very, very long day ended a couple of seconds ago. The Quarter finals on Wednesday are

Federer - Ancic
Safin - Lopez
Schuettler - Clement (grumpy old men...)
Murray - Nadal

Can't believe Richie caved after leading 2 sets to love. But BRAVO to Marat, Mario, and Rafa! Great matches to come!

Oh me oh my ...

Schuettler-Clement LOL As commentators said, have we turned back the clock or something??

Wednesday should be goood

Woot woot to Marat!! Can't believe it! Full of pride and joy ... and to think that his first 4-match win streak in 2 years (as wimbledon.org kindly mentions) would happen on GRASS ;D Mom reported to me that he kept cool, together -- where'd that come from??

Given that it's just the ladies tomorrow ... will definitely be firing up the computer to watch Marat's match and Richie-Andy


... I just saw a new Fed commercial for Nike .... interesting

[annie]

guys! I am so freaking happy right now! I mean, literally, I'm all smiles I'm afraid its gonna have to be surgically removed!! Its a good thing I'm in a hospital! LOL I wasn't able to watch it one bit but reading all your posts, I can so feel it! Quarterfinals!!! OMG!
Congrats Marat! Good luck for next round! Get the nieces, fairy and pixie dusts ready!! LOL

[most96]

such a great tournament for marat, a real dream!!!
i think he can win this one!!!
goooooo safin

[annie]

It would be great if he becomes champion, wouldn't it? Hope for the best!

[coolgirl]

OMG, I am soooo in love with this "Hunky"( is this how McEnroe described him??!! ), I think I will be the happiest person in the planet if he wins this tournament.

Sigh, is it just me or is Safin getting hotter these days..gawd, in his matches he is sooo intense , it is such a turn on, LOL!!!

[sabz]

Jul 1, 2008 2:30:38 GMT 3 Dina said:

WE WANT AN INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FRUSTRATION NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well if u look at my previous post he said a few comments but still no interview

cannot wait for tomorrow!!

[jenhatter06]

Gentlemen's QF Schedule:

Center - 1pm Start
Federer - Ancic
Murray - Rafa

Court 1 - 1pm Start
Safin - Lopez
Schuettler - Clement

as if there was any doubt about that


Women's SF set:

Zheng (wow) - Serena
Dementieva - Venus

[sabz]

awesome! no fighting over the remote with the mother
marat followed by andy ;D

and as for the semis, can i dream that zheng and lena go though??

[Dina]

Lord! Marat and Fedex are playing on the same time?!!!
No wonder who BBC will air!!!!!!!!!
FRUSTRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dina]

Articles

Safin v Lopez preview


Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Written by Helen Gilbert


Safin stretch
©Prosport / T. Hindley

Over the past month Dinara Safina has been the Safin family member making headlines – winning her first Tier I title at Berlin, then reaching the final at Roland Garros against Ana Ivanovic. Meanwhile her older brother, former world number one Marat, had dropped off the radar.

That was until last week, when the Russian recorded a shock second round upset of third seed Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The performance by the 75th ranked player – who had, prior to the tournament, won back-to-back matches just twice this season – suddenly cast the handsome 28-year-old in the media spotlight. Well, almost.

Yesterday evening, there were no English speaking journalists to question Safin about his victory over thirteenth seed Stanislas Wawrinka – they all seemed to be off somewhere reporting on a British guy named Murray, but the Russian press was in abundance.

Safin’s progress at these Championships has all the hallmarks of a fairytale. Only once before has he made the quarter-final here – back in 2001 – and in the past has made no secret of his dislike for grass, exiting in the first week on every occasion since.

But that attitude appears to be changing. Earlier on in the week a jovial Safin thanked Wimbledon for making the courts slower and described the fact that he had reached the second week as a big achievement.

“I’m pleased with the way I’m playing, I think it’s pretty good tennis, a pretty good level,” he said. “I think I just start to feel much more comfortable match by match.”

But Safin is determined not to look further than his next match. “You don’t want to have a lot of expectations because when you start to have a lot of expectations you just end up losing in the third round to God Knows who,” he said.

“I’m just trying to get as close as I can to top 50. This is my goal just heading into the summer in the US. I think it should make a really huge difference. I would love to be seeded in the US Open.”

Helping that cause, the mental demons that plagued the temperamental Russian in the past appear to have been kept at bay. Yes, he has thrown his bat – but the racquet-smashing Safin of old has stayed relatively hidden this tournament. A calmer, more composed player has emerged.

Some might argue it is because he is winning and has yet to be properly tested. But he will have his work cut out in the form of number 31 seed Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who has beaten the Russian on four of their five meetings.

In fact, it was 26-year-old Lopez who ended Safin’s Wimbledon run in 2005, sweeping him aside in three sets, before falling at the quarter final stage to Lleyton Hewitt.

And yesterday, Lopez – who on Sunday watched Spain win the Euro2008 Championships with compatriot Rafael Nadal – demonstrated nerves of steel to save three match points and defeat number 10 seed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in a five set tussle.

But like Safin, Lopez is not thinking past the quarters, describing his forthcoming match as “really, really tough”. “I want to focus on that match and don’t want to think about going father than that,” he said.

While Safin’s head-to-head may not look good on paper, he should be brimming with confidence given he has already knocked out the third, 13th and 29th seeds.

And perhaps this will be the match to determine whether the fiery Russian has finally found a way to keep his cool. Either way, it will certainly make headlines.

[Anne]

Goo Marat! Great tournament so far. Please.. I would love to have a semifinal. i´m so proud of him! Like, really, I feel so proud!
Who would have thought that first of all, he would ever reach a quarterfinal, but then again, on WIMBLEDON?!!?! I have to admit, when I saw the draw, I stopped at Novak, but so did he!

I have faith in you Marat, I really think you can beat Lopez! DAVAI!