Hopman Cup 2005

[christina]

MariaV said:

And ppl, is there an email address (at his management or somewhere) so I can send him a message that 3 thingies ard your neck is a tad too much for a man (he says he's such a MAAAAN, not a metrosexual)? Anyone can tell him that? They looked HORRIBLE!!! Messy and way too much! Don't think any other tennis player is wearing so many thingies ard the neck.

commentators were taking the p*ss outta him for 2 necklaces....i can't wait to hear what they say about 3....hehehhehe....and even a metrosexual wouldn't wear 3 necklaces because it just looks bad ;D

[MariaV]

christina said:

commentators were taking the p*ss outta him for 2 necklaces....i can't wait to hear what they say about 3....

Oooh Chrissie....

[christina]

MariaV said:

Oooh Chrissie....

yesh.....?

[MariaV]

I mean abt the comments you'll hear. I heard some today already BTW.

[christina]

MariaV said:

I mean abt the comments you'll hear. I heard some today already BTW.

ohw JeeJ can't wait now...roll on 2pm tommorow, highlights JeeJ JeeJ JeeJ ;D ;D ;D come on guys, get your sarcasm swords out, take marat down ;D

[Damita]

Article from TurkishPress.com

Russia downed as Safin slumps
01-03-2005, 16h21

PERTH, Australia (AFP) - Top-seeds Russia joined the Slovak Republic on the losers list here after both nations suffered narrow defeats by underdogs in their opening encounters of the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis tournament at Perth's Burswood Dome.

Unseeded Germany sprang the biggest surprise of the day when they edged out Russia 2-1 while Australia had earlier downed third-seeds the Slovak Republic by the same margin.

The Russians had taken a early lead in the tie after French Open winner Anastasia Myskina cruised past 19-year-old German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-3 but their hopes sank when the powerful Marat Safin crashed 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to the talented Tommy Haas in the men's singles.

Once again -- as it had done in the Australia versus Slovak Republic tie -- the outcome was decided by a special tie-break in the mixed doubles after the teams had split a set apiece.

The Germans, aided by a sparkling performance from Groenefeld, finally outlasted their tiring opponents to claim the doubles rubber 7-5, 1-6 (10/6).

Former world number two Haas, who is slowly returning to his best form after major shoulder surgery in December 2002 which sidelined him for 15 months, had set up the German victory with a win over Safin.

"He was too good today -- I made him a lot of presents for Christmas," Safin, who made 42 unforced errors, joked.

"He is playing really good tennis and I hope he can keep it up this year -- all the best because he was injured for a long time."

But Safin, who only arrived in Perth 24 hours earlier after receiving an award in Moscow on New Year's eve, was clearly jaded in the third set.

"It's a good excuse actually," he laughed.

"I tried my best but he was much stronger than me. I almost fell down a couple of times, I had no power but I was fighting."

Haas, now ranked 17 in the world, said he had lost concentration in the second set and began to struggle as Safin's big serve kicked in.

"I played a few loose points and he came up with some big points ... he served pretty damned good," he said.

[Jane]

MariaV said:

And one thing that bothered me, Haas came up with some great passing shots DTL at the end of the 2nd set and Marat was just disappointed, I would have applauded to Haas on a couple of occasions actually, like Roddick does, so in this I must give credit to Andy, I've seen Andy applauding to the opponents' shots a lot, and I haven't seen Marat do it for like.... seems forever. Actually Marat didn't learn from the mistakes when he rushed to the net and let Haas pass him, sure it frustrated him but.... It would be nice to give credit to your opponent too sometimes. I am beginning to understand the critics who say he never gives credit to his opponets.

sorry, Maria, but I would say he DID give Haas some credits. He did applaud to those amazing passing shots Haas did last night. But he just didnt do it in 'up-in-the-air' manner like Andy does. Once he applauded and even said 'Merry Christmas' to Haas on court and laughed, making the whole crowd laughing with him. I'm not protecting him or anything, but that was what I saw last nite. And first I also thought that he just didnt bother and wasnt concentrated enough in the first. But he was actually tired in the third. Even in doubles, u can see he tried much harder in the mixed doubles than last year and produced some amazing shots. The pity is that he did the DFs at the matchpoint and that's it, just like what he did at 18-18 in that SF in Houston.

[ IMHO tho, the DFs is all about mentality and I think he would even have preferred an UE rather than a DF at that point in the match. UEs might be the sign of lost concentration, but DF is more like a sign of your own faltering nerves. ]

[sirius]

well, i heard he was volleying well and doing pretty good at the net.

and like i was ranting on msn.. food over tennis bah. if u don't get it, nevermind, i'm just ranting. nth important.

coria's next. marat needs to be ALL THERE for that game or it's sayonara russia.

repeat telecast at 4.30pm. but i don't think i'll be able to catch marat's match cos they'd show nastya first and i'd be out by the time marat comes along. and i dont have tape at home. BAH

[sirius]

nothing yet on the hopman site.

there are some pics of marat and nastya training on wtaworld (not sure where) and mtf (in the safin forum, under...either the hopman thread or the pictures thread)

[MariaV]

Thanks for clearing it Jane, I didn't get this on TV of course, maybe bc they were showing replays a lot (naturally after Tommy's good shots). I only once saw him kinda trying to applaud (and well, that didn't really look like applauding so that's why I commented on it; 'cause I would've done like Andy does) to one of Tommy's shots and once grabbing his head with his hands after Tommy had passed him again and kinda didn't like it. Thanks again, have fun and please keep on reporting.

[sirius]

found a short interview on MTF. thanks to kiara... i thik i'll post it, instead of making anita run all over the place looking for it.

What a wonderful tie that Russia and Germany gave us today. Marat your match against Tommy was a tough one.

Yes it was too difficult, he was too good today. I made him a lot of presents, for Christmas. But he is really playing really good tennis; he will hopefully keep it up this week and this year. All the best because he was injured for a long time, so for him it is very important to come back and to come back this way. So all the best.

And you only arrived late yesterday so was it difficult for you to play a long match?

Yes it is a good excuse actually. I played my best. Unfortunately he was much stronger than me and I almost fell down a couple of times. I had no power but I was fighting

And the reason you were late was that you were receiving a special award back home in Russia. Can you tell us a little about that?

Most of it is just because of our Mayor, he is investing a lot of money to bring the tennis a little bit higher. We have a lot of girls playing good tennis. We have five in the top 10 and there is no guys any more so we need some money for that to be able to build good facilities and to built a good federation, to have really good coaches to be able to have good players.

Thanks Marat.

[Jane]

After the match I went down with another journalist for an interview with him, but I didnt bring the recorder with me so I will borrow the tape from the guy tomorrow, transcribe some parts of the interview and post it here. But he was speaking very very quietly last nite so I dunno how audible the tape would be. But I will try to decode it as much as I can. I also have one photo of him taken after the match.

The reason I took only one picture was becuz he looked so worn out and didnt seem to want his pictures taken so I didn't. I'll post that later on tomorrow with the interview.

Btw, Maria, I think Andy is just more of a 'big act' kind of a person than Marat. I mean, Marat does have big acts on court. But Andy has more of this American media personality I guess...

[kasey]

Jane thats great thanx!!
Im a bit slow with the reply, but i agree bout being worried if Marat looses to Davide..

[sirius]

thanks a lot for your updates jane! i'm looking forward to the transcript. btw, are u covering the evnt for the media?

[sirius]

article from hopman site...

Germany Upset Russia in Cup
3 January 2005

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OUTSIDERS Germany upset the top seeds Russia in their first round-robin match in the $1-million ITF Hyundai Hopman Cup at Perth’s Burswood Dome tonight.

The Russians fought the match out to the end, with a thrilling mixed doubles, but Germany took advantage of a tired and jet-lagged Marat Safin to snatch an unlikely victory.

Russia’s world No. 3 Anastasia Myskina took the opening rubber against 19-year-old Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-3, but a fresh and enthusiastic Tommy Haas levelled the contest with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Safin.

After a short break, the contestants returned for the mixed doubles, which went to a Match Tie-break to decide the outcome after Germany won the first set 7-5 and Russia the second, 6-1.

It was the magnificent form of Groenefeld, who traded heavy shots with Safin, in particular, that gave Germany victory on their second match point, winning 10 points to six.

Russia has the chance to rebound on Wednesday, when they play Argentina, with Safin enjoying a day’s rest, while Germany can enhance their Finals prospects against Italy on Tuesday night.

Earlier, Australia boosted its prospects of reaching Saturday’s Final with a thrilling mixed doubles victory against the Slovak Republic to win their opening match.