Roland Garros 2006

[samara]

he's about to be broken ....3 time ...in the 4th set ..
i can't watch anymore ...i hate to see him like that ..not loosing but giving up
he could have won ..but ....
when will i learn not to get toooo involved when he plays may be when he learns not to give up to anguish
davai marat ..good luck for the rest
always support you ...may be too much

[yse]

[reese]

OMG I´m in tears It´s so damn sad!! But not the loss itself more the fact that Marat is working sooo damn hard and is giving everything but it doesn´t work out.. Plus its Roland Garros and we all know that he wants to perform well there.. Its breaking my heart
Marat

But I also have to admit that Gonzales played well

[emma]

[legato]

I think that we have hit rock bottom there He was at his pinackle in the second set but suddenly without warning he self-destructed but what is more intriguing is the fact that there was no outside effect that led to that :obut usualy safin really show's up with a vengenace when he hit's rock bottom very much like the 2004 U.S open and what followed well i guess everybody know what followed up 8-)on a positve side I think that his fitness was very much were it was before the injury
I think that you could tell whether safin is at top form or not by the speed he takes to execute his shots and tonight he didn't take them imediatly but rather kept a fraction second more thinking that it should be
I think that it was a little odd with his play tonight usualy when he plays bad he is frustrated or something he seemed to be yes but i thought that he was playing well but rather laking the cutting edge right before the last game he was kiking gonzo's ass but in the end it proved too little too late for him i think that he is at the moment right where he was before wimbledon last year playing well but laking this little extra hopefully with a hall month up and coming he would have time to praper come to wimbly detroy federer and clinch the title ;Dit is pretty realisable when you take in consideration that yu're dealing with marat safin you could tell that the volcano is going to errupt and hopefully it will soon

[safinette]

RG is my fav tournament and it's so sad to see that Marat lost in first round. Anyway, I think the good news (if there's any) is that he moves well on court now, his knee doesn't seem like is giving him too much trouble... that's good, at least I think it is.
Second set was beautiful, that was Marat.

[emma]

[CaliforniaSuds]

Owwwwwwwwww. That was painful on so very many levels. Especially since he showed some good stuff and then took a nose dive. My husband bought me a 50" HD flat screen for our anniversary and it doesn't come until tomorrow. He sat there with me watching the match (I hate that!) just saying "pity pity pity", making fun of the bun and racket slamming and teasing me about him crying. Then he saw Marat do my pet peeve - the snot shot out of the nose. Agassi does that and it so grosses me out.

Nevertheless, I'm still crazy about him, still love his game, and look forward to his next match. Of course now I have a deluxe TV and no Marat to watch. Wah Wah Wah!!!

[safinbgfan]

It`s so pity!

[fancy]

THIS GUY HAS AN EXTREME BAD LUCK !! OH GOD PLEASE PLEASE HELP HIM GET OUT OF THAT!!!!!!!

HE HASNT A LACK OF SKILL, HE HAS A LACK OF CONFIDENCE AND IT IS EXTREMELY OBVIOUS THAT HE IS PSYCHOLOGICALLY ILL AND I APPRECIATE PETER BUT THE COACH IS TO BLAME WHEN THE PLAYER IS LACKING CONFIDENCE LIKE THAT

ALL I CAN DO IS TO HOPE IS THAT HE CAN GET OUT OF IT AND HE SHOULDNT LOOSE HOPE , HE CAN TAKE MARTINA HINGIS FOR EXAMPLE AS A MODEL SHE WAS OUT OF THE GAME FOR YEARS NOT JUST SOME MONTHS BECAUSE OF THE DAMNED INJURIES AND THEN SHE IS BACK SO HE SHOULDNT LOOSE FAITH AND HOPE LIKE THAT

ANYWAYS , ALWAYS SUPPORTING YOU , MARAT ,U JUST CANT HELP LOVING THAT GUY , IT IS OUT OF CONTROL AND OUT OF ANYBODY'S HANDS , HAVE YOU SEEN THE CHEERING OF THE SPECTATTORS

GOD WITH U , MARAT AND WE LOVE YOU A LOT

[emma]

[karolka]

i don`t know what happen, it was totall shock 4 me i`m sorry for him....
don`t worry Marat we still love you

[tina]

First-emma thanks for pic.

And now I was watching him on tv today and dont know if I m more mad or sad.What is going on with him he proved in some moments that he is GREAT PLAYER but he lost and that Gonsalez he catch almoust ewery ball i mean Why?I still think that Marat is one of the best tennis players youst this is not his time.Hope he will be beather soon.Always on his side

[sonya]

omg,i was so excited,couldn't pull myself together after i'd made some coffee & brought my drooling bucket i sat down to enjoy few-hours lasting spectacle i had such a strong feeling that he's going throught,and even in some freaky moments,i wasn't afraid too much...now,i realize that my instincts are good only when it comes to bad things
and i agree with samara-it's not so bad that he's losing-the problem is his giving up in some moments...and i'm pretty familiar with that feeling his position right now is pretty unpleasent...that unwanted injury which took him quite a lot time,and now he's back,he's trying pretty hard,and results still aren't here...he wants too much at once,he wants good things to happen all the time,and as soon as it starts to develope in some other way,he's just losing his strengh and,i must say his will,too ..i bet that in those moments he thinks-nevermind,i can't do this now,i'm tired,i can't run after the ball,BUT i will do better on the next tournament..and so on..the worst thing is that the more you temporize things,the less are the chances you have so,i think that really important thing for him is to make himself remind of his ambitions & wishes in those moments of crises,because-wanted he or not that to happen,the time when he's going to regret because of the missed chances will come..from my own experience,i know it's not an easy thing to do,especially if you're sometimes too lazy,and you get bored too easily,when you have to do much more than you expected to get what you want but,everyone who has that problem should think that way-you just need to remember those numerous times when you have some big wishes,when you wanted them so badly to come true..

this is really not about me as a fan-it's so much more about him,and the way he must have felt...at least,i'll be able to finish with my exams till wimby,and if i miss marat,i can always do some research in my collection dedicated to him it's all about the feelings he has-that will last some time[hope not too long )...the picture when he's going off the court and passes beside that boy waiting for an autograph tells so much about it

yeah,there were few really brilliant moments...there was a little grumbling and throwing racquets...and one try to break it now i feel so bad for enjoying that,because i know he was frustrated...actually,that moment when he started with a great serves and amazing,clear points after grumbling is what we like,right?


one more thing to say,but it's a little bit off-topic:people really can be stupid...i was so happy when i found out that djokovic's match was on the court without proper cameras,because that way,i could have seen safin ;D the stupid reporter didn't stop saying that the match safin-gonzalez is interesting for us because of one simple reason-the winner will meet novak in the second round...yeah,right..that's what it was all about

MARAT,YOU JUST HAVE TO SEE WHAT YOU WANT & TO KEEP THAT ON YOUR MIND ALL THE TIME!!!TO KEEP DOING EVERYTHING TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!!!YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL,AND YOU'VE PROVED THAT THOUSANDS OF TIMES!JUST STAY FOCUSSED & YOU'LL BE THE CHAMP AGAIN-THE ONE & ONLY WHO WILL DOMINATE & WILL HAVE THE OPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE!!!GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

[carole]

OMG everybody i have tons of things to tell you after my day at the french open! I saw Marat in practice and then at his match and i don't know by what i have to start! Btw i have gorgeous pics of him at practice that i will post as soon as i can.
Okay let's start by the practice. It was just fantastic. Peter came first and smiled when he saw how many people were there to watch Marat! Then he talked a bit with a guy about marat's knee and he was saying that this cold weather was a bit too hard for him but that it was going better... Then Marat arrived (it was 13H35), relaxed and smiling. He was hitting with del Potro... AND i have to say that in the practice his forehand was amazing compared to the match where it was just awful and btw i have a question : Marat has trained only 30 minutes whereas i saw Gonzalez who has trained i think more than 40... And Marat has not done a lot of volley during practice, i wonder of that was not a little bit too short to get the rythm...

I've already seen him like in last Bercy and other french open but, believe me or not, he is MORE GOODLOOKING THAN EVER!!!!!!! I just can't believe my eyes! I was on the first row so i have seen him really well and OMG he's so beautiful, it's just unbelievable. And his voice is just OMG i'm going to die right now! Really that was a great moment and i insist : at this time he was playing great! When he left he signs for a lot of people, with smiles and everything, he was so cute! Then Roddick and Hewitt came on the court and Marat had a short talk with Lleyton, kind of "when and where are you playing" thing... But i'll show you the pics !

Then the match! I'm french and here people just love Marat ! It was really cold and it was a bit late too but a lot of people have stayed until the end and it's not that often in the first days and for non french players! The first set was not that bad but he was making so many errors, that was not the great Marat that we know... He had opportunities but missed them. The second set : that was our Marat or near, he was playing solid, with great backhand and the forehand was back... But i don't know why i didn't believe it would last. He was taking so many risks and it was obvious he was still struggling with himself...

Then the nightmare started : i have never seen Marat playing like that, unable to put a forehand in the court and unable to make a volley! Btw he lost the first set going to the net like a fool and won the second from baseline so someone can explain me why the hell he starts to go again at the net in the third!!!!!! Well that was not the worst...

I can see him losing, it's painful but i can, but i can't see him SUFFERING like that. Really it was just heartbreaking because he was desperate and completely lost on the court. Fighting Gonzalez, fighting himself, fighting his game... Just awful to see him like that... But he was fighting, he has lost the belief at the end but i don't think he gave up. He really tried but nothing was going his way. But these stupid mistakes on the advantage or BP points : OMG !

But, in all this sadness something great happened. It was 5-0, change over and Marat had the head in the hands, just to try to forget what was happening i guess! And then all the crowd started to yell his name, cheering for him ( we were doing it from the start but this time it was really huge). And it last until he walked on the court and then i'm nearly sure that Marat was really moved of that because he was puting his fingers in his eyes really strong, like when you feel the tears coming and just want to hold them... The people around me felt the same way and really it was a really moving moment... I'm sure his ego was dead to think of a 6-0! Then he broke back with everybody cheering and supporting him. Unfortunately he can't hold his serve and lost... And when he went out of the court, everybody was stooding up, applausing for him and on the screen we saw he made a bye bye sign and he was breathing hard with the shoulders going up and down and i'm sure he was again near the tears...

I've never seen him this way, so sad and desperate and i think it's worst than the loss... But to tell the truth he's hitting the ball well, that's just he doesn't make the good choices on important points and that sometinmes his mind flows away... For now he can't play a full match at the highest level but as i've seen roddick, hewitt and others in practice i swear that Marat was the most impressive, he has an incredible power when he hit the ball and everything seems so easy, it's amazing... But in match it doesn't work for the moment!

I stop here because i'm too long and i'm maybe boring you! I agree with others about the psychological trouble and the confidence question... He really needs a good win to start to believe again but i'm a bit worried about the way he's going to find the wish to go through all this pain... Because today for him it was obvious that he was suffering so much! And, i'm maybe wrong, but i've not seen him looking at Peter during the match... I don't want to judge Peter's work because he's a great coach but i don't know what his plans are to help Marat roght now but obviously they're not going in the right direction... Let's keep hope for the rest of the season!

I'll post you the pics as soon as possible and if i can do it correctly! Right now i'm too tired and too sad to do it!