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Post by Magda on Jun 21, 2004 14:07:46 GMT 3
Do they read their articles before uploading them to the website? LOL I guess they not ;D. But I like the part about Don Quixote and Sancho Panza ;D |
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Post by Teresa on Jun 21, 2004 14:34:14 GMT 3
Dear Magda, of course he wasn't named after Jean-Paul Marat, it's the journos!!! ;D  Marat is a common Tartar first name. But they'll never get it. "Roland Garros and the French Open" Do they read their articles before uploading them to the website? Christina>>>Magda>>>MariaV LOL LOL |
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Post by Teresa on Jun 21, 2004 14:35:43 GMT 3
[glow=red,2,300]GOOD LUCK MARAT[/glow] 
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Post by MariaV on Jun 21, 2004 15:57:30 GMT 3
Oh boy!!! I'm nervous already! I don't think if I can take it if Marat won't win comfortabely 3-0!
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Post by sirius on Jun 21, 2004 17:31:29 GMT 3
it's been raining out at wimby again.... but...what's new!
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Dee
Junior Member
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Post by Dee on Jun 21, 2004 18:33:46 GMT 3
1. I think the players had played all of four games before rain stopped play, lol! 2. Bring on the roof!. 3. DON'T let Cliff Richard ANYWHERE NEAR South London, let alone Wimbledon! 4. I hope Marat does get to play today, but it will be cold and damp out there on the graveyard court. Sounds attractive doesn't it? 5. A useless fact. When they build the retractable roof on centre court, they will also replace the seating, making the seats wider, as everyone's bums are getting bigger! 6. Finally..... Go Marat !.... You can win Wimbledon. You can, you can, you can!  |
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Post by Damita on Jun 21, 2004 20:04:30 GMT 3
Since when do people write "Roland Garros and the French Open"? LOL hmm, very easy first match for Federer and Hewitt |
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Steph
Junior Member
The Lilywhites!!!!! (only irish ppl will understand!) Waterford is my hurling team!! Up the Deise!!!
Posts: 127
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Post by Steph on Jun 21, 2004 22:37:13 GMT 3
Hey everyone, I'm back, my exams have finished, fimally!! Well he won't be on court today, d**n rain!!!!!!! I was looking forward to seeing his match all day! Anyway GOOD LUCK MARAT!!!
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Post by Carolineonline on Jun 21, 2004 22:52:41 GMT 3
4. I hope Marat does get to play today, but it will be cold and damp out there on the graveyard court. Sounds attractive doesn't it? When you say warm and damp and marat's on court... then i follow a sweaty russian guy..what more do you wish for... ;)Caroline |
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Steph
Junior Member
The Lilywhites!!!!! (only irish ppl will understand!) Waterford is my hurling team!! Up the Deise!!!
Posts: 127
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Post by Steph on Jun 21, 2004 22:53:27 GMT 3
Marat is up 1st on court 2 tomorrow play starts at 12.00!!
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Post by me on Jun 21, 2004 22:56:52 GMT 3
When you say warm and damp and marat's on court... then i follow ;)Caroline ;D ;D;D ROTCL!!! Marat is up 1st on court 2 tomorrow play starts at 12.00!! You're kidding me, damn I probably won't see the end of the match, if they even air it at all and it means an early rise for Marat, that's not good. -xxx-jes me |
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Post by christina on Jun 21, 2004 23:13:28 GMT 3
ok this article was published yesterday (20/06/04) in the sunday telegraph wimbledon 2004 magazine
i may do this in installments cos im not the most patient person in the world n i dunno if i can b bothered 2 write it all out in one go, wait & see...
INSIDE THE MIND OF MARAT SAFIN
CLIVE WHITE HEARS THE REVEALING CONFESSIONS OF RUSSIA'S TEMPERAMENTAL STAR
Everyone is disappointed about Marat Safin's unfulfilled potential except, it would seem, Marat Safin. Ever since, as a 20 year old, he had the nerve to whip Pete Sampras in front of his own supporters to win the 2000 US Open - the first time in 16 Slam finals that the grand master had been beaten in straight sets - the tennis world has been waiting for the Russian to assume his rightful place among the modern - day tennis greats.
Many feared this was a talent that was going needlessly to waste as he repeatedly fell short in following up that success during the ensuing three years: he was too good to be a one-slam wonder. When he appeared at the Australian Open in 2003 with three blondes in his box and then followed up that mediocre effort (on court, at least) by taking the best part of the remainder of that year off, ostensibly to clear up an injury, those fears were all but confirmed.
*Jesh, i can see this taking ages to type out specially as Caroline is telling me bout the 6 year old ball kids at the Ordina Open...but anywho on with the story.*
However, his return at this year's Australian Open was a sporting comeback to rival the greatest when, with almost no preparation and only a mininal degree of fitness, he managed to reach the final. He was like a man on a mission; his aim, perhaps, to prove that even with such a sever handicap, he could take on and beat the best. *Go Marat, Go Marat* All it did, of course, was raise the level of expectation all over again.
His return has been welcomed by all and sundry because tennis needs not only a talent like Safin's but also a personality like Safin's. Articulate and humerous, the media know that however nondescript the play may have been in a match, Safin will invariably come through for them in the press conference. He is all for lightening the atmosphere when the tennis gets too serious, although his methods occasionally go a little too far, like at this year's French Open when he pulled down his shorts and mooned during his second-round match with Felix Mantilla. He was docked a point for that bit of cheek (*not literally*). "Look, nobody else out there complained," was his excuse.
Yet if there is one thing that is guaranteed to raise the Muscovite's hackles and get him all serious, it is the suggestion that he is "back". Not that he disputes that he ever went away, it is just that he resents what he sees as phoney loyalty. "It's like everybody's happy, "Marat comes back, he's playing great tennis, I'm really happy for you". Come on."
"Whenever I am losing, it's like "It's his fault". And whenever I'm winning it's like, "That's us". That's the team, the people. but when i'm losing a few matches, suddenly "It's his fault", "He doesn't want to practise", "He doesn't need it", "He doesn't care". And when everything goes well, there are a few people coming behind the stone, saying, "Oh my God, he's back finally, and i was there to help him out".
"So it's a little bit annoying, and it's also annoying when the people come to you and try to explain to you and say, "But if you should do this or do that you will be more calm, you will be much better". Those people are normally losers because they don't know how much time, how much dedication, how much it takes to be where i am right now." *Bless his lil cotton sox.*
Fans and media alike tend to live in a fantasy world where sport is concerned. But serious athletes, like Safin, are much better at putting their victories and defeats into perspective. Britain's Tim Henman spoke on this very same subject only recently, saying when he lost in the Wimbledon semi-finals to Goran Ivanisevic in 2001 he thought the media expected him to be "in isolation and crying for a week - but by the next morning i had decided where i was going to play golf and who i was going to play with."
Safin is also philosophical about the criticisms which have been levelled at him, almost throughout his career, with regards to his temperament. Like many tennis players he is mature beyond his years, 24 in his case.
"There is no such thing as a perfect player; it doesn't exist," he said. "It has to be a balance. Because i have this serve or because this kind of game, that's...*England just scored yaaaaaaaaay, sorry, excitement takes over*....why i have this head, and i have to deal with that. I know that's my problem. I cannot change it. Nobody can change it. I can improve it a little bit. But it's my head, it's the way i am. So at the end of the day, i will be who i am and i will win how much i can win. So don't get too excited when i am winning and don't get too depressed when i am losing."
"For example, people come to me and they say I should have won five Slams already. Yeah, but sorry, I couldn't. For some reason, I couldn't. I wish also, but it doesn't work this way. Everybody is smarter from outside of the court. But in the court it is a little bit different. You see different, and you feel, and you sometimes you play against yourself. It's really difficult sometimes to push. Sometimes you are scared, sometimes you are choking, sometimes you are too confident, which is also bad. It's sport."
No one can criticise *england 4-2 woooooooooohoooooooooo, top banana* Safin for lack of effort, at least not since he came back. The number of times he has come through five-setters is a testament to his fighting qualities and he came through a few at the recent French Open. He has a huge heart, as he showed when he almost single-handedly won the 2002 Davis Cup for Russia by beating France in the final on their territory.
After his Australian Open heroics most people expected him to start winning tournaments immediately, but as Safin probably knew, the reality would be something different. In successive tournaments he had the misfortune to come up against Roger Federer, who beat him in the Melbourne final, and Roddick in the opening rounds. But sometimes he is too easily disheartened, as he was in the match with the American, when he fails to meet his own high standards. As he said: "In the second set i felt a little bit frustrated so i didn't play" adding: "These kind of matches they cut your motivation."
That is the kind of mental weakness his new coach Peter Lundgren - formerly with Federer - needs to correct. His problem is he lacks patience sometimes, most noticeably on clay, which is odd since he completed his tennis education on the red stuff in Valencia, from the age of 13 to 19.
Nowadays, he is a resident of Monte Carlo. While there may be a new dedication about him, one thing we know for sure is that he won't be playing tennis, like Andre Agassi, at 34. Consequently, we should just enjoy him while he is. "D*mn right!"
*OK, so now thats dun im gonna go watch the last 5 minutes of the football."
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Dee
Junior Member
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Post by Dee on Jun 22, 2004 0:04:51 GMT 3
Fnar fnar!! ;D
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Post by Damita on Jun 22, 2004 0:29:32 GMT 3
Chris>> thanks for the article and your devotion (i hope you enjoyed watching the last minutes of the football match). Good article |
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Post by Teresa on Jun 22, 2004 5:48:07 GMT 3
Hey everyone, I'm back, my exams have finished, fimally!! Well he won't be on court today, d**n rain!!!!!!! I was looking forward to seeing his match all day! Anyway GOOD LUCK MARAT!!!Good to have you back Steph  Agreed, thank you Chris Good match but I wish Croatia had won....sorry to all you Brits..... And Steph.....I know, early start, not so good, hopefully it won't be too cold, I don't think the weather conditions are favourable at all, and after hanging around all day today I just hope Marat will be in a good mood that early...... |
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*sigh* 
