2004 Year end champions - Houston

[MariaV]

For those who didn't see the match - the stats:

1st serve % Andy 62%, Marat 61%
Aces Andy 13, Marat 16
DFs Andy 2, Marat 1
Winners Andy 45, Marat 37 (too few)
UEs Andy 25, Marat 23 (well, )
BPs Andy 1/3, Marat 1/7.

BP conversion is the only thing I'm not happy with. He f*** up 1 point on the 1st TB on his last serve when he just had to put the ball in the court and that was it, the set was gone.
Positive is that he didn't give up in the 2nd set. He smashed only one racquet at the end of the 2nd set, he had 3 SPs on Andy's serve (0-40, Marat leading 6-5) but couldn't convert.
But I'm not that upset really. I'm kind of even happy he will have Fed in the semis (if he wins Tim of course) and doesn't have to play the final and put up with this annoying McIngvale at the trophy ceremony. Although I'm sure Marat could behave with dignity in any situation. Bless him!
OK, Andy's serve and even volleying were too good today but I still remember a wonderful FH cross (that was WOW!!!!), and 2 lovely dropshots that Andy applauded to. Too bad Andy played the big points better, I'm still super satisfied with Marat's season, all the rollercoaster. If he would be all season that calm like the indoor season it wouldn't be that fun. I hope he knows we support him through thick and thin, no matter what. No reason to be angry with him, he has played so much tennis lately and it's been fun. And an exciting match today! OK, I'll stop my blabbering now. Best wishes to you all and don't be angry with him please!!

[Damita]

MariaV said:

I'm kind of even happy he will have Fed in the semis (if he wins Tim of course) and doesn't have to play the final and put up with this annoying McIngvale at the trophy ceremony. Although I'm sure Marat could behave with dignity in any situation. Bless him!

just to be sure i get that right .... you think he can't win against Roger if he goes through the semi? i can't wait for this to happen!!! although i would have prefered it to happen in the final... anyway i'm really impatient for this moment of truth to come!!

Marat plays at 7pm (Houston time) tomorrow

[sirius]

it was a good match. but marat got outplayed. but he hit quite a few lovely winners. and managed to hang in there. like maria's said. the BP conversion was a factor. and also the fact that on the most crucial points, andy played better.

marat had 3 bps in the second set but andy just served his way out of it ah well.

good match anyway. pity the scoreline was the wrong way round.

and MAC! pfffffffffft. don't get me started on that guy....don't know if anyone else saw this lil bit of footage. but they showed security ushering this guy with a lil russian flag into another seat. according to the commentators. he was sitting near mac and mac fdidnt' like it pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft

[Damita]

sirius said:

and MAC! pfffffffffft. don't get me started on that guy....don't know if anyone else saw this lil bit of footage. but they showed security ushering this guy with a lil russian flag into another seat. according to the commentators. he was sitting near mac and mac fdidnt' like it pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft

the big big idiot!!! (and i'm being polite)

[Vlad]

Here is my summary:

In the first set, Marat was the better player overall, except for that horrible game he played on his serve. I mean who else (big players) is giving away games to Roddick for nothing? Roddick played only 1!! good shot in that 2-3 game and won it. Then Marat was putting pressure on Roddick serve and he cracked serving for set at 5-3. That was very good effort and Marat's high point of the match. The tiebreak as usual went to Rodik's way because: 1. Roddick always hits great first serves on most important points. 2. Marat always misses one or two balls that are really important. Ex. 7-7 and Marat did not expect Roddick ball to go over the net and was not ready for it. It is not the first time it happened, same story was in Indian Well match in that tiebreak as well. Marat is simply not 100% on every shot in the tiebreak and that's why he loses them. Roddick always is playing his absolute best in tiebreks.

Second set Marat played comsiderably worse in the second set. He wasn't putting any pressure on any of Roddick serves until 5-6. He had 0-40 in that game and did not take them. Roddick hit couple of good serves but Marat had some chances and just wasn't aggressive enough.

Second set tiebreak was just as usual. Roddick hits all first sets and most of them are aces, while Marat loses couple points here and there and it is over.

Marat's serve strategy did not work at all I though. Andy was standing 5 feet behind the baseline and Marat was hitting serves right at him, so he was returning most of them. HE needed to use outwide serves a lot more.
Andy's serve is probably the best in the history of the game and most importantly he plays bigger points much better than Marat, which coming into this match, I thought would make all the difference and it did.

just to add couple of things:
If Marat doesn't realize how important each and every point in the tiebreak then I wouldn't be surprised if Marat never wins another match against Roddick. Simple as that.
Another things that really bothered me was that Marat was not prepared for some of the Andy's shots. HE was surprised to see a 125mph second serves. He was surprised to see those forehand rips that Andy took. It is like he was expecting him to play a lower quality match.

[MariaV]

Damita said:

just to be sure i get that right .... you think he can't win against Roger if he goes through the semi? i can't wait for this to happen!!! although i would have prefered it to happen in the final... anyway i'm really impatient for this moment of truth to come!!

Marat plays at 7pm (Houston time) tomorrow

Yeah, I don't think Marat can win Fed. I don't think anyone can at the mo, in fact.

[Jasmine]

I kinda surprise that we don't quite hurt for Marat lost as we used to be in others tournament before. Then I realize that it's round robin, so it isn't like he has to go home tonight. (Although, you've thought about his lost to Roger already. ) I like this kind of mood, sheering and supporting without pressure. I admitted that sometimes when Marat lost, I was sad for a couple days. But today, just shake my head and say to myself "Boy, how long you gonna keep losing in tie-break to that Rodduck kid?" ;D And friends, Marat may have a chance to play with Andy in Final, right?
Go Marat Go!

[Vlad]

Marat's interview:


An Interview with Marat Safin

November 18, 2004

Q. You were very close today to win the first set, to win the second set. What went wrong?

SAFIN: I couldn't beat him here. Can you imagine if I beat him here, what's gonna happen (smiling).

Just a little bit unlucky. It's like I always say, the tiebreaks are a lottery. I had my chances. It could go both, you know, like 7-6, 7-6, to me.

But, unfortunately, just wasn't my day. Was not the day.

I did everything right. I couldn't say that I made a huge mistakes. The volley, yeah, but the volley is also like little bit unlucky, because just maybe one shot.

But I had chances before to break him, and it sucks but...

I'm not sad. I'm not sad. I'm still alive. I still have a chance tomorrow against Tim , and hopefully, the way I'm playing, I'm really glad that I'm playing well. I'm feeling each time better and better. It's a little difficult to play outdoors, tough conditions.

But it's pretty good.

Q. So what would happen if you beat him here?

SAFIN: I don't want to think about it, what would happen. What would happen to the tournament, to the crowd, to the people? I don't know. I don't want to think about it.

Q. Why?

SAFIN: Are you serious?

Q. Very.

SAFIN: (Smiling). I don't want to make him sad. His hometown.

Q. It's my understanding that you didn't want to have the replay being played on the big monitors. Why was that? Is it true?

SAFIN: I didn't mind the replay, but the thing is when you are playing the point and there is -- they are showing the same time the match, it's a little bit, you know, the eyes automatically are going somewhere. So you cannot concentrate basically on the court.

It's kind of difficult a little bit.

But between the points, why not? I don't care. They can put anything they want. Just during the points, it's a little bit disturbing.

Q. Also, you seemed to have played a great match, but it seemed like the short balls gave you a little trouble, or you got a little unlucky on your approach shots.

SAFIN: I didn't really feel comfortable with this. I don't know, like for some reason I couldn't make a decision, you know, what to do. Because is also like on important points I didn't want to risk it, I want to risk it, then I thought that just maybe I should stay back and try to, you know, try to play with him from the baseline because I have more chance to beat him from the baseline than just I think - how you say? - more stable, better on baseline than him. So just keep him on the baseline and try to win the point.

Sometimes I should have gone and I didn't. Sometimes I went. So basically not really consistent, you know. I couldn't make a decision.

Q. Marat , it's been a while since you last played Tim . Is there one of your matches in the past which stands out in your mind?

SAFIN: Which one?

Q. Is there one? Or do you not remember them?

SAFIN: Again, again.

Q. Is there one of your previous matches with Tim which stands out for you?

SAFIN: Not really. No.

Q. Thanks.

SAFIN: (Laughing).

Q. What do you think the key is going to be to tomorrow's game then?

SAFIN: Just who's gonna be more focused and who's gonna be more like -- who have more balls, you know - seriously. It's all about.

Because the match, it's really important match for both of us. Who's gonna win is gonna go to the semifinal. Who gonna go for it. This kind of game, he has a very difficult game, serve and volley all the time, putting pressure. Me, I would have to stay -- try to stay focused and sometimes go for it on the passing shots. Be more, I would say -- just be able to go for it sometimes, because I would have to.

I would not have to try and stay -- and play the points from the baseline. You have to create something, because he can play from the baseline, he can volley. He has pretty good serve. So you have to go for it, play your game, not be scared of missing.

[MariaV]

Vlad said:

Here is my summary:

In the first set, Marat was the better player overall, except for that horrible game he played on his serve. I mean who else (big players) is giving away games to Roddick for nothing? Roddick played only 1!! good shot in that 2-3 game and won it. Then Marat was putting pressure on Roddick serve and he cracked serving for set at 5-3. That was very good effort and Marat's high point of the match. The tiebreak as usual went to Rodik's way because: 1. Roddick always hits great first serves on most important points. 2. Marat always misses one or two balls that are really important. Ex. 7-7 and Marat did not expect Roddick ball to go over the net and was not ready for it. It is not the first time it happened, same story was in Indian Well match in that tiebreak as well. Marat is simply not 100% on every shot in the tiebreak and that's why he loses them. Roddick always is playing his absolute best in tiebreks.

Second set Marat played comsiderably worse in the second set. He wasn't putting any pressure on any of Roddick serves until 5-6. He had 0-40 in that game and did not take them. Roddick hit couple of good serves but Marat had some chances and just wasn't aggressive enough.

Second set tiebreak was just as usual. Roddick hits all first sets and most of them are aces, while Marat loses couple points here and there and it is over.

Marat's serve strategy did not work at all I though. Andy was standing 5 feet behind the baseline and Marat was hitting serves right at him, so he was returning most of them. HE needed to use outwide serves a lot more.
Andy's serve is probably the best in the history of the game and most importantly he plays bigger points much better than Marat, which coming into this match, I thought would make all the difference and it did.

just to add couple of things:
If Marat doesn't realize how important each and every point in the tiebreak then I wouldn't be surprised if Marat never wins another match against Roddick. Simple as that.
Another things that really bothered me was that Marat was not prepared for some of the Andy's shots. HE was surprised to see a 125mph second serves. He was surprised to see those forehand rips that Andy took. It is like he was expecting him to play a lower quality match.

OK, I agree with everything you say. He wasn't expecting Andy's shots, I noticed that too, he is always wasting the points or how you say it, not just TBs, and hence waisting his energy.
But you sound so negative and dry about it, sorry, please don't get me wrong, you have every right to say what you said and your critical contribution is certainly welcome here. But if Marat wasn't like that I wouldn't be his fan. I would be a Fed fan. I am not a fan to criticize him here although I see all the flaws too, I'm here to support him all the way. I'm glad Marat himself has a positive attitude. I'm not upset bc of this loss at all. I'm off to bed so please someone else post the articles with great Marat quotes here.

P.S. Sorry, I get enough negative emotions at work so tennis is all just for enjoying for me and for positive support to Marat, I know he is hard enough on himself off the public so I kind of have a principle now - never get to his case (or how to say it?, I hope you understand). Plus I absolutely don't care if he wins or loses anymore. I'm just happy to see him play at all. And it was a great quality match all in all!

[MariaV]

Jasmine said:

And friends, Marat may have a chance to play with Andy in Final, right?
Go Marat Go!

You're right Jasmine!

[MariaV]

Oh, one more note actually - I was saying to myself - he played too short balls too often, he wasn't really taking many risks. OK, now I sound like Vlad. See, it's contagous Vlad.

[tall_one]

Damita said:

just to be sure i get that right .... you think he can't win against Roger if he goes through the semi?

if he can't beat Andy I don't know how he could possible beat Roger

[Vlad]

there is always a chance to beat Fed because he doesn't serve as well as Rodik.
Roddick served lights out today, mostly on the big points. If you look at stats, it looks like Marat had more aces, but Roddick aces come at the right time always. He is one programmed serving machine out there.

[tall_one]

of course there is always a chance.

Everyone, including tennis gods like Sampras & Federer, have bad days. Nothing is absolute in tennis, that is what makes it fun to watch, but the fact remains that Marat played well today and still lost in straight sets. Marat has played Roger twice this year and hasn't won a set, what makes you think he stands a chance agaisnt Federer now?

Wishful thinking doesn't win matches

[tall_one]