Wimbledon

[sirius]

hmm...so marat didn't play...phew! i was expecting the worst since teletext didn't mention him.....so...i might get to see him play tonight! woohoo!!!!!

football sounded good... and what was i doingwhile that was on? trying to force myself to sleep so as not to be too jet-lagged.....ah well...

[MariaV]

Congrats to the British football fans and not-so-fans here! Huh I'm SOOOOO nervous, I don't think I can bear to watch Marat play!!!! I'm gonna try though! I hope there won't be too many rain delays today to mess up his head! Although the weather forecast isn't very good! GOOOO MARAT!!!!!!

[sirius]

ok. that totally sucked. 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-7(1)
marat lost to tursunov, or as vass affectionately calls him., "THE TRAITOR"

lundgren was there, walt was there, boris yeltsin was there but according to some sources, dasha wasn't.

good first set. 2nd set first serve percentage was 90% or so and he still lost...geesh!

so... that's wimbledon for marat.......

[sirius]

from the Wimbledon site



Match Summary

Tursunov (RUS) Safin (RUS)

1st Serve % 85 of 142 = 60 % 81 of 124 = 65 %

Aces 18 8

Double Faults 7 6

Unforced Errors 28 39

Winning % on 1st Serve 65 of 85 = 76 % 55 of 81 = 68 %

Winning % on 2nd Serve 29 of 57 = 51 % 22 of 43 = 51 %

Winners (Including Service) 46 40

Receiving Points Won 47 of 124 = 38 % 48 of 142 = 34 %

Break Point Conversions 4 of 11 = 36 % 3 of 11 = 27 %

Net Approaches 13 of 24 = 54 % 28 of 52 = 54 %

Total Points Won 141 125

Fastest Serve 134 MPH 135 MPH

Average 1st Serve Speed 120 MPH 123 MPH

Average 2nd Serve Speed 99 MPH 101 MPH

[Annie]

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't been online much over the past few days - I've been super busy with other things. I was going to go down to Wimbledon for the first few days as I'd been promised tickets if I went, but I couldn't get back in time for Wednesday (all the cheap train tickets for my return journey were gone and I had to be back for Wed ) so I didn't go, and I'm glad I didn't! It would have been a lot of money to watch a rain delay, and then Marat lose the next morning......

My friend went down though and saw Marat's match - she said he was playing really amazing in the first & second set. Then he lost his serve and just seemed to crumble! He lost it 3 times in a row and it was like he just wanted to go home. She doesn't know what the explanation is. Yesterday he seemed fine, laughing and joking with Henman on the practice courts, and everything seemed good with Lundgren. But I wonder what Peter will make of their coaching relationship after this weird match..... it's not going to encourage him to stay on with Marat, watching his pupil give up so blatantly. I saw the last point on BBC and Tursunov hit the ball to Marat, and Marat didn't even look at it, he was already walking towards the net as if the match was already over!!!

Walt & Peter were there, and Allon was. The wife of that business man was there too (who went as Marat's 'date' to DC thing in Belarus earlier this year - Boris Yeltsin is there, and lots of the Russians have come to watch, so it's not surprising.) And no, Daria is not there......... maybe that was something to do with the loss??

Anyway, it's sad that Marat has gone out of Wimbledon when he clearly had a good chance to beat this guy. And BTW, Marat still hasn't cut his hair or shaved his beard..... he looks like Guga from the back

[me]

Pic from the yahoo site

[me]

pics from yahoo

[me]

and to let Jiat recover from her jetlag, I'm doing her job one more day. So here's an article + photo from the site




Safin Crashes to Compatriot

Tuesday, June 22, 2004



Marat Safin, the 19th seed, went out in the first round at Wimbledon today against his fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov. The lesser-known player came through 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-11) in two hours and 32 minutes on No.2 Court.

Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, a guest at The Championships, was a courtside spectator but left after Tursunov won the second set to level the match.

It was a major triumph for the 21-year-old Tursunov, who is playing at Wimbledon for the first time after reaching a career high world ranking of 66 earlier this month.

What appeared to be a routine start for Safin, a former Wimbledon quarter finalist and US Open champion, as he broke serve in the first game and ran out the first set in 34 minutes, turned into a position of growing authority for Tursunov.

Safin was still able to reach a strong position at 5-3 in the second set but Tursunov produced his most sustained passage of play to win four games in a row for the set, then another three games to lead 3-0 in the third set.

Safin's decline became more marked in the third set as Tursunov established greater command, with seven aces and 69 per cent of first serves into play.

By the time Tursunov had won the third set after being on court for 108 minutes the arrows of defeat were all beginning to turn in Safin's direction.

But Safin had chances to restore himself in the match. He broke in the fourth game to love and held serve for 4-1, the best position he had been in any of the sets. But Safin dropped serve in the seventh game to love, double faulting on the last point, and Tursunov responded by holding serve to love for 4-all.

In the next four games Tursunov had two points to break serve, one for 5-4 and a second for 6-5, but Safin fought them off.

But once the tiebreak began, Safin was tumbling out fast with Tursunov taking six points in a row for victory, winning with a forehand down the line.

Safin, runner up at this year's Australian Open, had paid the penalty for mistiming and not lifting his service game when it was needed.

Tursunov, who showed his skills in last year's US Open when he qualified and beat former French champion Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, took all the chances which his opponent offered to swing the match his way and then retain control.

Tursunov moved from Russia to the USA when he was 12 and is applying for US citizenship.

Written by Barry Newcombe

[Carolineonline]

How could this happen ??? Honestly i didnt know what i saw when i came home and saw that he had lost the match When I was still at school he almost had the first set.. and I was thinking ohh he'll fix this, no problem... and now he lost I've told you he should have come to Ordina to practice.. oke he obvious doesnt like grass, but losing first round grand slam is really unlike-marat... and not good for the rankings.. Is he gonna play in the doubles now?
;)Caroline

[me]

I don't understand how he lost. I saw the beginning of the match. till 3-1 and then I saw it from the beginning of the 2nd set till about halfway through the 2nd set. He was playing really good then, his serve was looking great, when they stopped broadcasting his match he was winning the 2nd set. Don't know what happened after they stopped broadcasting it, I still can't believe it. He lost!

The Wimby site only has him listed as a competitor in the men's singles event, not in the men's doubles event. So no doubles this time

-xxx-jes me

[Dee]

I'm totally gutted and depressed, and I have to say, pretty annoyed with Marat.

I watched the whole match and Tursanov played well from the end of the second set to the end of the match. marat had chances to break Tursanov, but he did'nt take them. It was to horrible to watch as Marat, instead of aiming his anger out at the oppostition, aimed his anger and negativity inwards at himself.

The fourth set was his for the taking. Tursanov froze in his serve to double fault. Then he hit a weak serve which Marat could barely be bothered to return, he dumped it into the net. That's when I got really angry. Marat could have easily saved the fourth set tie break. It was like he did'nt want to be there anymore and he was'nt going to bother,

I'm angry for the waste, he could do so well, angry becuase he lost that match by his negativity, and angry because he, and his fans, are worth so much more than this.

This has upset me more than other losses because you always felt he had time on his side to bounce back. Now this seems to be a regular pattern. All that talent he had , all that potential, and all that's stopping from being a great champion, is in his head.

I hope this makes sense. I usually always defend Marat, or try to look on the bright side, but this defeat today was just so depressing because Marat had no fire, no passion and no will to fight. It was like he did'nt care... and that is the worry.

[poundcat]

Marat would agree with you Dee...it's all in his head. I think he has it in his head however that nothing can change and his head will always rule. He came into Wimbledon with the idea that he was no good on grass, so he lost. I looked at all these very nice photos and I think he has gained weight as well, esp. the thighs. I wonder if he's keeping in shape ? He flits from one thing to another and conditioning to keep in top shape may have gone out of favour. An interesting thing will be the oucome of the coach thing. Who will give up on whom? Or will it continue on?

[MariaV]

I totally agree with you Dee!! At the end he just didn't bother, it really looked like he didn't want to be there any more!!! Vass must be fuming! I try not to fume, as you can see I took some timeout before coming here. No wonder I was so scared to watch the match! I AM OFFICIALLY DECLARING THAT I'M NOT GOING TO CARE ABOUT HIS TENNIS RESULTS ANY MORE!!!!!! TOO BAD I CAN NEVER STOP CARING FOR HIM AS A PERSON! Because it really sucks to support him! But OK, it's his career, his money, his life anyway! They showed Peter talking to someone for a while after Marat left, I wonder too if Peter is willing to keep working with such a dork!
And did you notice I guess it was at the end of the 2nd set when he lost his serve (or was it the beginning of the 3rd already?) when he grinned to someone in the stands, I would say it was just plain STUPID grin! Well, I'll stop rambling 'cause obviously he didn't care so why should I.

P.S. GREAT article from Newcombe. Wonder-wonder, all the facts there are CORRECT!!!! If you're interested Mitya (his nick) Tursunov is applying for US citizenship because the Russian Tennis Federation didn't help him a bit when he needed he said, Misha Zverev plays for Germany, Alex Bogomolov Jr plays for the USA, and other guys who have left play for their new countries, 'cause in fact Shamil and the Federation haven't done anything to help them! There have been many critical voices of the kind lately. The same applies for girls, Davydenko, Sharapova, Petrova, Kuznetsova are just patriots who have kept their ciizenship to name some examples. They could be playing for other countries too! So there would be no Russian tennis! OK, I OFICCIALLY promised not to care any more! Hehe, you really think I can keep the promise...

[MariaV]

poundcat said:

Marat would agree with you Dee...it's all in his head. I think he has it in his head however that nothing can change and his head will always rule. He came into Wimbledon with the idea that he was no good on grass, so he lost. I looked at all these very nice photos and I think he has gained weight as well, esp. the thighs. I wonder if he's keeping in shape ? He flits from one thing to another and conditioning to keep in top shape may have gone out of favour. An interesting thing will be the oucome of the coach thing. Who will give up on whom? Or will it continue on?

Well, I don't know about the other guys who saw the match but I would say YEAH, HE WAS SLOW, DIDN'T MOVE HIS FEET, BAD FOOTWORK AGAIN, out of shape a bit for sure! He should have run like in December in Monaco while his blisters were healing, d*****, I wonder if he hasn't been listening to Walt lately either!! What is it with his head!!!!!!
Is it really because of this Dasha person, when he was in love with her in December it didn't stop him from training! OK, I give up! I wonder when Peter will!

[MariaV]

From Reuters www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=tennisNews&storyID=5484635§ion=news

UPDATE 2-Wimbledon-Beaten Safin says he hates Wimbledon
Tue 22 June, 2004 18:02

(writes through with Safin quotes)

By Paul Majendie

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Volatile Russian Marat Safin said he had had enough of Wimbledon after he was knocked out in the first round by compatriot Dmitry Tursunov on Tuesday.

"I give up on Wimbledon," said the former world number one after his 4-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 defeat. "It is definitely not the tournament for me. I give up on spending time on these courts. I give up on practising before the tournament..."

"I hate. I hate this. I have to admit it."

"I tried and tried but it doesn't work," the 19th seed added. "Really this is not a tournament where I can play well because I don't feel comfortable. I cannot move."

Watched by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, Safin seemed to be coasting to an easy victory when serving for a two sets to love lead, but then his booming serve and pinpoint accuracy deserted him in spectacular fashion.

The imposing world number 15 smashed his racket in fury, enraged at loosening his grip on a match that had looked to be his for the taking.

Tursunov, making his Wimbledon debut and ranked 70th in the world, refused to be rattled and outfought Safin all the way to a richly deserved victory on court number two.

Safin, who returned this year from a wrist injury to reach the Australian Open final and the last 16 at Roland Garros, has enjoyed some great form this year.

But by the third set on Tuesday, he was shaking his head in disgust as the 21-year-old Tursunov coasted into the lead.

"So after a while I just get bored. I lost completely motivation and I give up," Safin said.

The 24-year-old Muscovite came back in the fourth set and when he raced to a 4-1 lead, the full five sets looked a certainty.

But again Safin's game collapsed and Tursunov took full advantage, winning the fourth set and the match with a 7-1 tiebreak victory.

Safin was determined to shine at Wimbledon this year, arriving in Britain a week early to practice.

But from now on, he said on Tuesday, he would just turn up the weekend before the tournament.

"Let's not talk about Wimbledon," he said. "It's not really the place for me, you know. It's not my surface. It is not my territory."

"I love tennis, I just don't like grass," he concluded, smiling.
___________


"So after a while I just get bored. I lost completely motivation and I give up," Safin said.

Is this a sound mind? Is he sick or smth?? Why don't other guys just give up!!!!! Look at Coria you twit!! arrrrrrrrrggggggg