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Post by me on Jan 5, 2005 14:47:57 GMT 3
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Post by MariaV on Jan 5, 2005 14:53:12 GMT 3
Maybe he'll get rid of that amulet now. Just a thought, I know.
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Post by Damita on Jan 5, 2005 15:23:18 GMT 3
LOL Steph, at least we 2 are positive today right!  ah well, i won't cry for that, will i?! ;D but i may cry if he does this in Melbourne  ...or maybe not  no, to be honest i think i'll cry if he wins the AO! So yes, i'll start to stay positive for Melbourne...if i manage not to let Vassily ruin my confidence ;D ;D But i'm sorry for Nastya. I read the comment on mtf that Vass mentioned. She must be really disappointed. She seemed to be very determined for the Hopman cup, and she obviously felt guilty for their performance last year in Perth... i don't want to be harsh on Marat, but i hope he's the one who feels guilty now, it's his turn... |
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kasey
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Post by kasey on Jan 5, 2005 15:32:55 GMT 3
Aww it was so frustrating to watch, Marat clearly wasnt himself. Maria im sure he will feel a sense of guilt and better luck for Melbourne. Please Marat we need to see a win!! ;D im sure he'll be right back on track by then, *fingers crossed*  |
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Post by sirius on Jan 5, 2005 15:56:28 GMT 3
steph, chris..the racquet kissing thing...
marat was pleased with a shot he made. but a couple of points later...he did sth stupid and wanted to murder the racquet...if i were the racquet..i'd run for my life.
oh yeah. he hit a linesman with an ace.... and then hit a spectator on the face with a shot...and the poor guy's drink tipped over and splashed him
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Jane
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Post by Jane on Jan 5, 2005 17:04:04 GMT 3
Yeah I would agree that Marat didn't look quite like himself here. He didnt move so fast around the court and he looked like he didnt know what to do in the mixed doubles. Like Vass said, I think now it's his turn to feel shame because Nastya was doing so well and she obviously put all her heart into it. She even said that "we lost last time, mostly because of me." But I doubt Marat would ever admit something like that to people tho. I think he feels it, but maybe self-denial  Anyway, he's very pleasant in the post-match interview as always. I think some other journalists would put down the transcript in some websites for you guys. But I have two exclusive questions I got to ask him the other day. Sorry I can't put down the whole thing becuz another journalist was interviewing him and I didn't wanna 'steal' his stories. But I'm gonna interview him soon so I hope I can post some more here for you guys. Sorry that it might not be so interesting or relevant (coz I just want some of his comments for the features I'm doing) But I think u guys would wanna read whatever he said nevertheless. So....here it is : Some fans have voted you the most competent player against Federer at the moment. Does that put pressure on you? Marat : No pressure, I mean no pressure. Because I know my values. I know what I'm good at. I know what are my weak points. So no pressure. but it's nice to hear that. It's nice to hear from the people who appreciate tennis and have real interest in tennis. So that's really good. Is that match against Federer in Houston kinda encouraging you to continue with that level this year? Marat : Yes, it was a special match. But the truth is, I'm sorry, it's so hard to continue the same way all the time. To keep that level of game weeks in weeks out. You would just burn yourself out. Tennis has been blooming in Asia at the moment. But some players complain that traveling to Asia is too hard for them because of all the jet-lag, travel time, and so on. But the ATP seems very keen on promoting tennis in Asia at the moment. What do you think about that? Would that help tennis in general? Marat : I wouldn't concern too much on the marketing in Asia. Sorry but it's just...three years ago, there were tournaments in Jakarta, some other in Kuala Lampur, somewhere else. Then what happened? It was just burnt out, so everybody is moving to Europe. And now Europe is burnt out so they are coming back to Asia. No, it's wrong. It's just wrong to do that. Because we just have to more or less keep the same level of market everywhere. You cannot just move around the world to try to squeeze money from every place on earth. Asia, Latin America, from America, from Europe. Squeezing every... Well, I'm not even talking about a big amount of money. We are selling the sports for such a cheap price. It's really embarrassing for people who are running this. I'm sorry but now, of course, it's booming in Asia. But I bet it'd continue this way for three years, Asia is gonna be finished. Then what? everybody is gonna run back to Europe, and then to USA. So we have to come up with a good idea, or we are gonna be like losers. |
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Post by MariaV on Jan 5, 2005 17:12:58 GMT 3
Thanks a lot Jane!  Glad to hear he was at least nice at the press conference.  He has plenty of time next week to recover from the jet-lag and get himself in better shape. But he needs a good draw at the AO. I keep my fingers crossed for it. |
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Post by sirius on Jan 5, 2005 18:01:21 GMT 3
OOOHHH i love what he said in that last question!!! GOO MARAT!!!!!! that's made me less pissed. YES!!!! GIVE US MORE TENNIS IN ASIA!!!!!
thanks jane!!!!!!
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Post by me on Jan 5, 2005 19:12:05 GMT 3
[glow=red,2,300]Thanks for that jane!![/glow]
Press conf transcript
Transcript - Marat Safin & Anastasia Myskina (Russia)
5 January 2005
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Marat any concerns about the slow start to the year?
(Marat) It is normal because, I have just finished my year and it is difficult to continue to play the same level because I ha some time off and I was working on my fitness. It is normal. The legs haven’t adjusted to the game. It is going to take me a while to get back. Another week. So I will do ok for the Australian Open.
Does this tournament give you..
(Marat) but I am playing well. I am not complaining, I’m playing well I am hitting the ball well. Peter is satisfied with the way I am playing.
Are you confident that you can do well at the Australian Open? As Australia is the place where you got your run back into the top ten. Does that give you the confidence coming back here?
(Marat) Why not? I mean there is everybody starting from the first round. Hopefully I will have the first round, a little bit easier than the other people. But it will give me a little more confidence when I get back and win a couple of matches. But I’m pretty confident. I’m very confident of playing well. Win a couple of matches and then everything is going under control.
What do you think brought back your good form last year? What good things in 2004 would you keep continuing this year?
(Marat) Just, winning matches. The thing that makes you play well and feel good, is being on the court and winning matches. That is what I was looking for. I went a little bit down hill in the middle of the season but then I caught up by winning a tournament in Beijing and then from there I just started to play well and winning matches and then at the end of the year I was playing great tennis. It was probably one of my best years. I was in my best shape.
Anastasia how would you assess your game so far?
(Anastasia) In singles, pretty good. I am pretty happy that I have won two of my matches. It was good for one of the first matches. The mixed was pretty bad but, we don’t play that very often so that is ok.
Marat when you have a downhill part of the year like you had last year, do you know why? After you go away and think about it. Do you know why it happened? or you…<br>
(Marat) Of course, everybody knows why. Because I was winning matches and because you lose a couple of matches that you weren’t expecting to lose and then you lose your confidence. You cannot the get motivation to fight back. I took one month off because I felt really burnt out from playing so many tournaments. All of a sudden you get left out of draws in Toronto, Cincinnati I lost to Hewitt and 7-6 in the third. Then of course in New York it was a disaster. But yeah it is just matches. If you are missing matches you lose confidence. You lose to the people that you weren’t expected to lose to. It makes it harder.
Marat, why do you think you play so well at the Australian Open? Is it the surface? Or…<br>
(Marat)I like the surface. Because it is not really fast, it bounces really high and for some reason I feel very comfortable playing here. I love to play on Vodafone and on Centre Court because it is not so windy. The court just suits me and I feel comfortable.
Lleyton Hewitt says that it is not quick enough. What do you think?
(Marat) Yeah, but you have to look at the fact that we have a completely different game. The way he plays is just completely opposite to what I am doing. For me it is that I like it when it bounces high, and when it is not so fast, so it suits me. But he probably likes to have it a little bit faster.
Do you think the majority of players like the speed of the court?
Nobody is complaining. It is 50- 50. Give us 50 players and they would love it and 50 players they would not like this surface, but at the end of the day there are certain surfaces that you have to play. We have the same thing in Russia. The surfaces, they don’t really feel too comfortable to play on, but I have to play on them.
Do you think it is a fair surface for every type of player?
(Marat) Yes I think so. There is, here, which is a little bit slower but bounces very high, then we have the French Open which is clay then Wimbledon which is fast and low and then we have the US Open which is fast hard court. So basically you have all different types of courts. So if you don’t like the Australian Open, you must like the US Open because it is a little bit fast and bounces a little bit lower. If you really want to be fast then you can go to Wimbledon. But if you want it really slow then you go to the French Open. It is different for everybody.
What do you think Anastasia? Do you like the surface of the Australian Open?
(Anastasia) I don’t care really. Like Marat said, there are some you have to play and you do play them and that is pretty much it. (Marat) I am not saying that it is a bad surface. I ‘m saying it is a good surface but just, some people might not like it.
Do you think that what separates the good players from the great players is how they adapt to different surfaces?
(Marat) Look at me I can’t adjust myself to Wimbledon. Not good enough. No, it just depends on every person and every game and every type of the game. Who it suits and doesn’t suit, no matter how much time you spend on court, no matter how many hours, how many days, how many years they try to play on that surface, if it doesn’t fit you then it doesn’t fit you. And I really feel like Wimbledon is a little bit too difficult for me.
Will you skip it this year?
(Marat) No I will have to play. Maybe I will have a good draw. I might play against one of the clay court players like Gaudio, and maybe I will myself in the quarter-finals all of a sudden. You never know.
Normally you play better when you get a tough draw…<br>
(Marat) Yeah but I don’t get to he tough part of the draw, to play against the top, because they are seeded, so I don’t even get to the third round, to the second round.
Anastasia do you think the Russian women can continue their good form and one of you win the Australian Open?
(Anastasia) Well we have to; we have a lot of pressure. There are so many of us. I know it is really hard to handle all the pressure, but we all have a goal to play really well in Australia.
Do you help each other out with the pressure? Do you try to help your fellow country women?
(Marat) Women solidarity. (Anastasia) No not really. We have our own team. I have my team, Sharapova has her team. I don’t think we help each other out. It helps us play better because I know they want to play better than me so I want to play better than them.
Are you more competitive against another Russian than you might be against a French woman?
I think it is normal yes.
Marat, how about the media coverage of tennis in Russia? You are here seeded at number one but we don’t see Russian journalists here. Last year you went to the Final of the Australian open and we didn’t see too many journalists. How is the media coverage…<br>
(Marat) Through the internet. (Anastasia) Oh it is pretty good (Marat) They have enough with the internet. They are showing all the matches, on T.V. so they don’t really need to fly to Australia to see me live. They can see me live in Moscow.
Television is ok…<br>
(Marat) but to ask me question “how do you feel after the match?, how did you play?, how did you feel before hand?, did you move well?” these kind of question… (Anastasia) You write, they read, they write again. It goes around.
Are the Russian men jealous of the success of the Russian women?
(Marat) We are more than happy. I am really happy for them because it is such a break through because for a long time they didn’t have really good tennis girls. Now we can be proud of them wining Grand Slams. They are really doing well. They have five girls in the top ten. That is pretty good. I hope it will give a lot of motivation for men’s players to achieve the same level. But for some reason we really don’t have anybody from the juniors or 16’s. Nobody is coming up so we are in trouble. So they have to show the guys how to do it.
Have you got an explanation as to why there are no guys coming up?
(Marat) Because our competitions is a little more difficult. To be honest playing is more difficult. It is more powerful, it takes more of the person to become a great tennis player on the men’s tennis tour. Without taking any credit from the women. Of course not. It takes an extra something to become good. Of course like in every country there is a lot of talented players, but they don’t have this special something to break through and to have the motivation to achieve something in their lives because they are starting to be comfortable with the level they are doing. They are not hungry enough to get where they should be. A lot of people have a break in the middle on the way. Sometimes when it comes too easy they are not hungry enough. Also you have to look at the fact that we don’t have so many tournaments around, so the competition is not very good. Like for example compared to Spain. They have competitions, challengers. For me they are incredible. What I see from the Spanish is that they great schools and base and they bring out new players every year. It is amazing.
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Post by christina on Jan 5, 2005 21:12:50 GMT 3
thanks miek dude for marats wonderful ramblings i feel so badly like i want to hug nastya, poor thing being stuck with marat when she so badly wanted to do well jiat, thanks for the racket kissing explanation & Vass, darling, BREATHE JeeJ.....party tonight? or do we wait for tomorrows result to see what happens? ;D |
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Jan 5, 2005 21:45:35 GMT 3
same here i truly feel sorry for myskina but i am happy to hear she got a word in all the marat focus.
BTW he has to beat Davide even if he is at 10%
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Post by Vassily on Jan 5, 2005 22:02:15 GMT 3
So you're the master of sarcasm today? OK. I'm hoping that that was my worst sarcasm. I just had to say something and I was running out of time.  |
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Post by Vassily on Jan 5, 2005 22:20:09 GMT 3
& Vass, darling, BREATHE ROTFL! You're so funny, I love you. |
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Post by christina on Jan 5, 2005 22:31:10 GMT 3
ROTFL! You're so funny, I love you. i love you too vass because most of the time you're extremely funny as well ;D |
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Post by Vassily on Jan 5, 2005 22:42:31 GMT 3
i love you too vass because most of the time you're extremely funny as well ;D Not as funny as the rest of you guys. Topic closed? |
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;D
...or maybe not 
no, to be honest i think i'll cry if he wins the AO!
