Open Seat Godo, Barcelona 2005

[alysha]

hey sorry im just wondering since i didnt see anything bout the match, what did the crowd doo?? poooor marat, oh well, as a very wise man said, itss just a game.....he can always count on us to love him!

[maratisgr8t]

Now this really is disappointing. It's really hard watching Marat go down to these virtual nobodies, or players on the comeback trail who get bundled out in the next round. You could understand it if he was being beaten by players in the top 10, but these players are nowhere near as good as Marat, yet they're beating him and he cant seem to get past the 2nd round of a tournament. He needs to become mentally tougher and block the crowds out too, like Lleyton Hewitt who never lets a crowd get to him. I wonder whether Marat has consulted a sport pschologist before? Oh well, I'll just keep on supporting him until he manages to turn it all around, I never liked the clay court season anyway.

[Jamie]

luckily, i didn't watch the match or i might be driven mad and said something stupid as well...

oh, i was soooo worried about marat.
i no longer want him to win all the matches he can win, instead, i just hope he can put less pressure on himself or he may mentally burnt out before the end of the clay season without any title or pleasant results! i didn't expect the AO title turning out to be so much stressful...
poor marat... why did i blame when you were already frustrated enough?!
when a person is under such psychological pressure, the more he wants to win the match, the harder it will be. (it is said that the mental tiredness is the main reason why Roger was beaten by Gasquet.)
so, please, marat, forget all the failures and ingnore all of out expectation. Just play as there is nothing to lose and nothing to win ( i dunno whether you can understand me...) Then you will be the best again!( i mean the media and other people will consider you the best again. you are always the best to all of us.)

And those pics almost made me burst into tears

marat, we will love you forever

[Mike]

Well guys...
Of course I am also sad to hear those things that happened to Marat but this season so far is pretty comparable to his 2004 season until this point. He had a very good AO and then didn't do much until Estoril and Monte Carlo. Ok...he played less tournaments this season and didn't do well at MC but the results so far are better then what he did back in 2004 to this point, because of his AO title. We were also worried about him back then. It took a while and he came back. LoL...I guess/hope this will happen this season also...just a little bit faster

Greetings...

[annie]

Well...here I am as always closing the discussion due to a time difference and only being able to access Internet from the office. What can I say.....

I watched the game late in the evening yesterday, not live but recorded and I already knew the result by then

lau is absolutely right..it was soooooooo...nothing...boring boring boring. Poor Marat was all over the place and was in no control of the situation. His opponent (ermmm can't even remember the surname rotflmao) just kept hitting the ball, getting lucky every once in a while and....that's about it.

HOWEVER.....cheer up people!!!!!!! Let's all just keep in mind one thing...Marat is a human being (even though some people try to convince me that he is God LMAO) not a robot, not a machine of some sort. He has his emotions, his ups and downs. A human being can't be 100% perfect and good all the time. That's the way life goes....in Russia we have a saying "Life is like a zebra: white line, black line, white line, black line.....A$$" ;D

Marat is somewhere in the hole right now, feeling down, not confident, trying things and not managing....but at the end of the day light always shines at the end of the tunnel...so let's hope he is going in the right direction. And please remember...the thing he needs most right now is all the support he can get from his loved ones and his fans so cheer up everyone and let's back him up as much as we can.

Mikey..totally agree with you. Good point

Great day everyone and stay positive!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[tall_one]

btw if any of you feel the need to cheer Marat up, writing him a quick note and mailing it can do wonders for his confidence

Elite Management
31 Avenue Princesse Grace
Monte Carlo 98000 Monaco
FRANCE

[annie]

tall_one said:

btw if any of you feel the need to cheer Marat up, writing him a quick note and mailing it can do wonders for his confidence

Elite Management
31 Avenue Princesse Grace
Monte Carlo 98000 Monaco
FRANCE

good idea ;D


Top seed Safin bounced at Barcelona tennis

April 20, 2005
BARCELONA (TICKER) -- Marat Safin's early-season slide continued Wednesday.

Safin, the No. 1 seed, was knocked out in the second round of the $1.17 million Open Seat Godo tennis tournament by Jose Acasuso of Argentina, 6-4, 6-4.

After winning the Australian Open title, Safin hasn't advanced past the round of 16 in his last four tournaments. The Russian, who won here in 2000, dropped to 13-4 all time in this claycourt event.

Joining Safin on the sidelines is defending champion and sixth seed Tommy Robredo, who was beaten by fellow Spaniard Alberto Martin, 6-1, 6-4.

Robredo beat Gaston Gaudio in five sets for the championship last year.

Gaudio was among the seeded players who advanced to the third round on Wednesday along with No. 4 Guillermo Coria and No. 5 Guillermo Canas - all from Argentina.

The second-seeded Gaudio made quick work of Spain's Felix Mantilla, 6-4, 6-2, Coria beat Peter Wessels from the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 and Canas bested Australian Wayne Arthurs, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

Eighth seed Rafael Nadal of Spain, who beat Coria in the finals in Monte Carlo last week, advanced with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. The 18-year-old Nadal could face Coria again in the quarterfinals.

Other seeded players to advance were No. 10 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, 11th-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic and No. 13 David Ferrer of Spain.

In addition to Safin and Robredo, three other seeded players fell on Wednesday. No. 12 Feliciano Lopez was knocked off by fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2001 champion, 6-4, 6-4; No. 14 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina fell to fellow countryman Agustin Calleri, 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 7-6 (7-1); and No. 15 Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand lost to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

[Teresa]

Mike said:

Well guys...
Of course I am also sad to hear those things that happened to Marat but this season so far is pretty comparable to his 2004 season until this point. He had a very good AO and then didn't do much until Estoril and Monte Carlo. Ok...he played less tournaments this season and didn't do well at MC but the results so far are better then what he did back in 2004 to this point, because of his AO title. We were also worried about him back then. It took a while and he came back. LoL...I guess/hope this will happen this season also...just a little bit faster

Greetings...

Greetings Mike,
Good to see you around, and thanks for coming by to give us some words of wisdom, prospective and support.

Annie thank you to for your words of wisdom, and yes we will stay positive

[Teresa]

tall_one said:

btw if any of you feel the need to cheer Marat up, writing him a quick note and mailing it can do wonders for his confidence

Elite Management
31 Avenue Princesse Grace
Monte Carlo 98000 Monaco
FRANCE

nicki mail from my part of the world takes about 10 days to get to that part of the world. LOL

So I was thinking about emailing the contact email at Marat's website, he is more than likely to be going to his site?

Anyway, its a good idea and pply can write to where they feel is best. Thanks

[Teresa]

Woke up this morning and looked at the rising sun
3 little birds sitting on my door step
singing sweet little songs
this is my message to you
please don't worry about any little thing
everything is going to be alright ;D

[annie]

Teresa said:

Woke up this morning and looked at the rising sun
3 little birds sitting on my door step
singing sweet little songs
this is my message to you
please don't worry about any little thing
everything is going to be alright ;D

Good morning girlfriend!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

[annie]

Coria is out. Lost to Calleri in 3 sets 4:6,7:6, 6:7.
Ferrero is playing now...so we'll see

[annie]

alysha said:

hey sorry im just wondering since i didnt see anything bout the match, what did the crowd doo?? poooor marat, oh well, as a very wise man said, itss just a game.....he can always count on us to love him!

Alysha the crowd was ermmm hmmm trying to find words, which won't ban me from here forever LOL..
To cut the long story short they booed him and whistled at him...it wasn't very pleasant.

[annie]

Nadal, Coria Enter R16, Safin Upset


Rafael Nadal faced very little problems in his 6-0, 6-2 win over Gilles Muller. Nadal took only 53 minutes to overcome the nervious Luxembourg-native to enter the third round of the Open SEAT Godo 2005 on Wednesday.

No. 4 seed Guillermo Coria had to dig deep to earn a spot in the third round after by defeating Netherland's Peter Wessels 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4. The Argentine, who comes off a final performance in Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal) was down 3-1 in the third set and facing a break point, but he recovered and stormed back by winning four of the next five games to win the match. He will now play Agustin Calleri, who defeated No. 14 seed Juan Ignacio Chela in a 6-3, 6-7(9), 7-6(0) thriller.

Argentine Jose Acasuso upset No. 1 seed Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4. The Argentine saved all four break points he faced while breaking the Russsian's serve once in each set en route to his victory in 1 hour, 33 minutes. He will now face qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka, who upset No. 15 seed Paradorn Srichaphan 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).

After a grueling 2 hour - 42 minute win on Tuesday, Juan Carlos Ferrero came back today looking strong in a 6-4, 6-4 victory against No. 12 seed Feliciano Lopez. The Valencia-native, who entered the draw as an special exempt thanks to this semifinal performance in Monte Carlo, will now face Alberto Martin, who defeated defending champion and no. 6 seed Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-4.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Robredo : "Well it's disappointing to lose as the defending champion but it was my first match in over a month. It was very complicated today and he was playing very well. I wasn't feeling great and it's my first match on clay which takes time to get used to. I'll continue to practice hard and hope to get some more matches in the next tournament. I wasn't coming here hoping to win the title, I just need to get matches again. My shoulder is fine and physically I'm feeling good."

Ferrero : "Yesterday was a very hard match but I played much better today. Physically I feel strong and it feels good to be able to play like I did today after such a tough match in the first round. I felt good and I'm believing in myself more and more and feeling stronger mentally. Martin will be tough in the next round, he is in great form and has had some great results this year."

Coria : "It was a tough match, the conditions were pretty fast and there was not much clay on the courts. The conditions were very different to the ones in Monte Carlo so it took a while to get used to it. And he is a player that doesn't give you much rhythm so I'm very relieved to get through the first round."

Safin: "Everyone is playing well. I slowed down after the Australian Open and haven't got past two rounds since then. It's frustrating to be in this position and there's a lot of pressure to get back. I lost all my confidence. There's a lot of frustration but I just need to wait for my opportunity. There are a lot of important tournaments coming up with Rome and Hamburg. I will regain my form but it's just a question of when..."

[Mike]

Annie said:

Safin: "Everyone is playing well. I slowed down after the Australian Open and haven't got past two rounds since then. It's frustrating to be in this position and there's a lot of pressure to get back. I lost all my confidence. There's a lot of frustration but I just need to wait for my opportunity. There are a lot of important tournaments coming up with Rome and Hamburg. I will regain my form but it's just a question of when..."

Yes...Hamburg is a good tournament for Marat, isn't it? He reached the final a couple of times there, no?
Hehe...I guess that he will reach the quarter- or semi-finals or even better in Hamburg or Rome. I mean, three bad AMS tournaments in a row are not good and there won't be a fourth one .

@ Teresa
Hehe...no problem. I am really happy to be here and to talk with you all.