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Post by Teresa on Apr 14, 2005 13:56:29 GMT 3
I have butterflies  Good luck Marat You can win this match ;D |
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Post by annie on Apr 14, 2005 14:06:21 GMT 3
Coria Downs Martin to Enter QF's
Defending champion Guillermo Coria was the first player to advance to the quarterfinals of the Tennis Masters Series Monte Carlo by defeating Alberto Martin 7-6(0), 6-1 on Thursday. The Argentine will now meet the winner of David Ferrer and Mariano Zabaleta for a spot in the semifinals.
Top seeds Roger Federer and Marat Safin, as well as strong clay court contenders Gaston Gaudio and Rafael Nadal will play later in the day.
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Post by annie on Apr 14, 2005 15:23:31 GMT 3
wow how cool he's playing last today. Just enough time for me to get home and watch the game instead of a scoreboard, which I am getting sick and tired of LOL
;D ;D ;D
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Post by annie on Apr 14, 2005 15:33:30 GMT 3
wow...weird stuff happening...since I can only see the scoreboard at the moment, I assume Ferrer retired from his match with Zabaleta. Zabaleta one the first set 6:3 and then Ferrer was 1:0 up in the second and the scoreboard went: "Winner-Zabaleta". hmmmm have to watch the news later to see what hapenned.
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Post by lau on Apr 14, 2005 15:43:35 GMT 3
wow...weird stuff happening...since I can only see the scoreboard at the moment, I assume Ferrer retired from his match with Zabaleta. Zabaleta one the first set 6:3 and then Ferrer was 1:0 up in the second and the scoreboard went: "Winner-Zabaleta". hmmmm have to watch the news later to see what hapenned. Annie, the scoreboard is wrong. Zabaleta retired from the match. He could hardly walk and it seems he´s got what could be a serious injury.....  It was sudden. The pain started after he ran a little and he inmediately retired. He didn´t hesitate  It can be serious |
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Post by annie on Apr 14, 2005 15:48:10 GMT 3
thanks for the update lau..hope he's ok.
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Post by tall_one on Apr 14, 2005 16:46:30 GMT 3
i thought you guys said there wasn't an interview? there is, it is just in french. Sorry i'm feeling too lazy to translate this and i'm sure one of you can to a faster & better job translating it then i can ;D
M. SAFIN / Cyril Saulnier
6-3, 6-1
Interview de: SAFIN
Q. Après ce type de performance, commencez-vous à penser que vous pouvez gagner le tournoi ?
R. Pas encore, il est encore trop tôt. Deuxième match. Trop tôt pour y penser.
Q. Comment pensez-vous jouer sur terre battue maintenant ?
R. Mieux qu'hier, et j'espère continuer à progresser. C'est vraiment une surface difficile, il faut s'y habituer. Je ne suis pas encore à 100%, pas à l'aise sur le court. Ça prend du temps. Il faut jouer beaucoup de matches. Il faut jouer beaucoup de temps, il faut jouer de nombreux jours pendant lesquels on frappe la balle pou retrouver le rythme sur terre battue.
Q. Changement radical de conditions aujourd'hui, par rapport à hier. Cela vous convient-il, avec une balle plus rapide ?
R. Je pense que c'est beaucoup mieux pour tout le monde. C'est beaucoup plus agréable de jouer au soleil, peu importe si cela va plus vite ou plus lentement. C'est tout simplement,t agréable de jouer au soleil. Au moins, vous avez envie de jouer. Quand il fait sombre, qu'il pleut et qu'il fait froid, et que personne ne regarde, alors, que les conditions soient lentes ou au contraire, qu'elles soient bonnes, c'est tout simplement ennuyeux.
Q. Jusqu'à présent, vous n'avez pas encore joué de spécialiste typique de terre battue. Pensez-vous que vous allez avoir une sorte de choc quand vous allez tomber contre l'un d'entre eux ?
R. Non, mais il faut s'y habituer. Ca serait beaucoup plus difficile de jouer un premier match contre Mantilla. A ce moment là, ce serait une toute autre histoire. Maintenant, il n'y a pas une grosse différence entre un Espagnol et, par exemple, Saulnier. Bien sur, les premiers sont un peu plus solides mais au moins, si vous trouvez votre rythme sur la terre battue, vous pouvez déjà jouer comme le troisième jour, comme si vous aviez déjà deux matches derrière vous. Dans ce cas, jouer contre un Espagnol est OK. Vous êtes déjà habitué au court. C'est plus facile, vous pouvez faire des échanges avec eux.
Q. Vous devriez être satisfait de votre service, parce que vous avez servi fort aujourd'hui ?
R. Oui, c'est très important, quelle que soit la surface. Je pense même que c'est sur terre battue que l'on a besoin d'un assez bon service. Parce que vous pouvez sauver beaucoup de points, même si les courts sont plus lents, ils sont quand même rapides. Un bon service est inévitablement efficace ? Cela vous donne beaucoup de points gratuits (inaudible)
Q. Avez-vous du plaisir à jouer sur le court quand vous jouez comme cela ?
R. J'essaye, j'essaye, j'essaye (sourire).
Q. Vous pensez beaucoup à votre prochain adversaire ?
R. Cela m'est un peu égal. J'ai d'autres problèmes à traiter. Pour être franc, ça m'est un peu égal. Ce sera soit Novak, soit Ferrero.
Q. Une préférence ?
R. Non.
Q. Vos ampoules, en fin de compte, c'est une vieille histoire ?
R. J'espère, j'espère, j'espère. Ce serait génial.
Q. Pensez-vous que c'est un avantage de résider à Monaco et de simplement rentrer à la maison après le match, au lieu d'aller à l'hôtel ?
R. Ce n'est pas l'endroit où vous vivez qui importe, ce sont les gens qui sont autour de vous. L'environnement est très important, l'ambiance. Si vos amis sont là, peu importe où vous êtres ; c'est très confortable. Oui, bien sur, de nombreux amis à moi sont là. Alors, c'est beaucoup plus facile, on se sent bien plus confortable que sur la route quelque part où il n'y a personne à qui parler, c'est cela qui est difficile.
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Post by Andrada on Apr 14, 2005 16:59:57 GMT 3
Nicki, thank U for the interview!!!!  |
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 14, 2005 21:03:42 GMT 3
Okay very angry and sad Marat lost 6-2 6-4, he got completely outplayed, got broken about 5 times, had god knows how many break points and just made to many unforced errors. Oh well fair play to JFC and good luck in rest of tournament  |
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Post by Teresa on Apr 14, 2005 21:09:31 GMT 3
 Poor Marat, he was really fighting all the way. I dont know the stats but someone said he made a lot of ue's......its too bad. this may be a result of his fighting, taking risks, and trying to win the points, sometimes there are winners and sometimes there are ue's I guess today was a day for ue's. There will be days for winners again that's for sure  I just hope he does not allow this loss get to him, and his confidence, that he can get past this and move on quickly to Barcelona where in the past he has done well. After all is said, this is the first of the clay courters, we still have a ways to go, its only the start, and Marat can only get better.  I wish JFC well, he is trying for his threepeater here Marat was in AO and won, so I do wish JFC well in this quest. AND lets not forget people Marat is the AO 2005 Champion, he has already won a grand slam for the year, and we are only in April, we have what? 7 months to go!! For me he has already achieved almost the impossible for 2005 already. Most should be so lucky as to have the career that Marat has had at the age of 25 years!! Keeping the faith Peace to one and all see you in Barcelona
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Karen
Full Member
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Post by Karen on Apr 14, 2005 22:08:07 GMT 3
Okay very angry and sad Marat lost 6-2 6-4, he got completely outplayed, got broken about 5 times, had god knows how many break points and just made to many unforced errors. His 2nd serve was at 24% 6/25. He was 2/8 in breakpoint conversions and won only 39% 26/66 receiving points. Just a bad day for him. |
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Post by lau on Apr 14, 2005 23:03:00 GMT 3
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Post by SAFINNO1 on Apr 14, 2005 23:21:45 GMT 3
Oh yeah i just remembered the score was 2-1 to ferrero and marat had already made 13 errors, shocking.
An interview with:
MARAT SAFIN
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. You showed some frustration on the court. What was wrong today?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, I had my chances and, you know, I didn't take my chances that I had to take. Many breakpoints didn't play right way, the way I really should be playing. I was a little bit rushing. I was a little bit annoyed for the fact that I had so many chances and I couldn't take them.
Q. You told us yesterday that you lost your confidence after Melbourne . You had a long break, and you lost your confidence. Is it the real explanation?
MARAT SAFIN: No, I don't think so, because I was just ‑‑ I'm trying to, you know, get ‑‑ adapt myself to the clay. Basically, I had two matches, you know, basically against the players that are not professional ‑‑ not clay court specialists, and today I had a real match against the clay courter. Even though that I was hitting the ball really well, but just I was a little bit rushing too much.
My confidence is still there, but just I had to play little bit in different way, because tennis is there.
Q. Marat , Ferrero says he's trying to get his confidence back after his injury, chicken pox. How can you judge the way he's playing? Do you think he's close to the level he was before?
MARAT SAFIN: Just it's difficult, you know, like to compare the Ferrero from before and the Ferrero now, because it's already, you know, like he is not anymore a young player, you know, 21 years old that he's playing the way he was playing. He matured. He matured a lot. He is already 25 years old. He was injured. To come back, it's really tough.
I mean, he is trying to get, of course, the confidence, but you cannot compare because he proved he's playing little bit different type. He's trying to improve. He's trying to improve himself, and he's trying to ‑‑ try to come back. But it's going to be tough, really tough for him.
Q. Would you say that you lost more the match than he won it tonight in a way because of the way you were playing and he is playing right now?
MARAT SAFIN: No. The way I was playing today, I was little bit ‑‑ had too many unforced errors. As I said, I was rushing a little bit too much. My chances were there. First set, I had many chances to break him. Second set, I was a break up and just a few stupid mistakes that cost me the match.
Q. Before he was very, very dangerous with the forehand and not so dangerous with the backhand. Do you think he has maybe slightly improved the backhand, and the forehand is not anymore as it was?
MARAT SAFIN: He improve the backhand, definitely. He can play from the backhand to backhand, and he feels comfortable. It's really difficult to put pressure on his backhand. Of course eventually if I will be a little bit stable in the court, then I will be playing, continuing hitting to his backhand, I would overpower him. That's why I was a little bit rushing too much to go down the line. I should have waited a little bit more for better opportunities.
No, it just was tactically a bit wrong, but nothing ‑‑ it's not that he is playing with the backhand that doesn't allow me to do anything with it. I hit there. I choose this way of winning, and it didn't work.
Q. After Melbourne , everybody was expecting you to be able to challenge Roger Federer for the No. 1 spot. How frustrating is it for you not being there?
MARAT SAFIN: I'm not frustrated at all ‑ at all. I can be upset with myself for many other reasons than to challenge Federer .
I don't really ‑‑ I don't really ‑‑ it's not my goal to challenge anybody. I'm trying to be as happy as I can, try to play as better as I can, try to be as consistent as I can. Whatever, if it will help me, and in a way I'm going to be able to compete with him for No. 1, that is great. But if I am not able to do that, I'm also happy with that.
Like I said, it's not my first year, it's not my second year on the tour. I've been playing for seven years. I already achieved quite a lot. So to be upset because I'm not challenging Federer , it's just... it's stupid.
Q. The other day you said that you would rather play Federer on clay than on any other surface. Then Federer came, I told him what you just said. He said remind Marat that I beat him three times on clay: In Rome , in Davis Cup , and somewhere else.
MARAT SAFIN: No, but still Rome , it was ‑‑ I had my match ‑‑ my match was mine, I was set and a break. He was lucky to win it.
He played well in Hamburg . He played well in Davis Cup . Why not?
Of course he is full of confidence. He can ‑‑ he is allowed to say whatever he wants (smiling).
Q. Paris has been a special place for you, Paris Masters . How important would it be for you if you could win Roland Garros this year?
MARAT SAFIN: That's my goal, actually. That's my goal for the whole career. I'm trying, and I will try, try to win it. I always played well there, but for some reason I couldn't ‑‑ I was missing something extra, you know, to win it. I was in the semifinals playing quite well, then I had a terrible match against Ferrero , semifinals. One time in quarterfinals, but I ran out of gas. Last year I had blisters. So it was always a little bit something is missing. That's why I'm going to try to prepare myself as much as I can for the tournament.
It's completely different. You cannot compare ‑‑ you don't compare to Monte‑Carlo and Hamburg ; they're all special in different way. But the French Open is five sets matches, and it's a little bit different game.
Q. What's so special about Roland Garros itself, the tournament, to you?
MARAT SAFIN: The whole thing, the whole scene. I mean, like the Paris atmosphere; the city; people; courts; the way that people, they run the tournament; the way the people, they love this tournament; the city. All these kind of things make it so special.
Q. Is it a perfect tournament?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah. For me, yes.
Q. When you think that you don't have sometimes patience enough, would you think that it's easier to have patience for a best‑of‑five match, or it's more complicated?
MARAT SAFIN: No, but just it's a little bit wrong, what you're saying. Just it's very difficult to have a patience straightaway after you coming from the hard courts. You still need to adapt yourself, still think that you can win the points in two or three shots. There's no chance.
So that's why, you know, like automatically, it's coming out. Whenever you have a chance, you go down the line, you go down the line, and you miss, of course. Of course you gonna make a lot of mistakes. So that's why you need to be more patient, you know, like make sure that you are there, hit as many balls as you can. If you are uncomfortable, just you gonna go down the line. Because a lot of bad bounces; like today, had many opportunities and the ball, just bad bounce.
So you need to keep on hitting the backhand crosscourt or forehand crosscourt, good, comfortable with the ball. You go down the line, you go to the net, is different story.
I still feel that I am missing a little bit. Because I am hitting the ball quite well. Serving well, you know. I wouldn't say that I'm playing bad, just a little bit wrong.
Q. We are all trained to understand why you can't be so consistent. Have you ever been thinking of working with a mental coach, or is that something that doesn't interest you at all, or it's maybe not a purpose for you?
MARAT SAFIN: You have to be happy with who you are. You cannot change. You can pretend that you can change, but you can't. Nobody's changing and nobody can change you no matter how much you try, no matter how much time you, you know ‑‑ like how much time you put in this. Just you have to live with that.
And bad times will come. And I'm still, you know, not being so consistent, I manage to finish in the Top 10 for four years or five years, so it's...
And I've been No. 1 in the world, so it's not bad. Still working (smiling).
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Post by Teresa on Apr 15, 2005 2:36:40 GMT 3
Thanks lau for those great pics God when serving he is a sight to behold eh? He really has a beautiful serve, fluid form. Thanks Safinno1 thanks for posting the interview, (btw I think its posted twice ) I was relieved, really relieved when I read the interview. For me Marat sounded postive, and clear about why he had this loss today, and in his own words: He was hitting the ball well, but he was rushing, thats how it felt and thats what I said earlier. He should have waited for better opportunities, a little more patience, but hey...... at least he can see this, and he won't make these kind of mistakes again. Chalk it up to a learning experience, better here than at RG and in his own words: Bless his little heart, this is a maturing Marat speaking. and this I was sooooo happy to hear him say: It is, it really is. I wont even comment on the Federer bit...........aargh But at least he gave a great great response: (well I think it was a great one  Like he has said so many times before, bless his little heart , and lord I would not want him to change one iota not so bad at all, in fact bloody marvelous ;D and lets not forget he is the current AO Champion ;D Okay everyone must be completely and utterly fed up of me, I understand, I accept, and promise this is it I have had my say, and feel much better thank you. So I leave you all in Peace Have a great weekend everyone |
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Post by Rucinski on Apr 15, 2005 3:24:30 GMT 3
Thanks for the pics and the interview, I didn't know Roland Garros was his goal, hope he can achieve that Another tourney and I didn't get to see him, because he's russian, his matches don't go a lot in here, but when he goes far they have to show them, but he couldn't this time, so I'll have to wait for the next one  |
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It was sudden. The pain started after he ran a little and he inmediately retired. He didn´t hesitate 
It can be serious
