TMS Madrid

[Perri]

This article from IC Wales has more comments from Marat on the match and the model ballgirls. He likes beautiful girls, not a surprise .

Tennis: Safin grows in confidence Oct 23 2004

Paul Giblin


Andre Agassi will not be able to repeat the triumph he enjoyed in the Madrid Masters two years ago following his semi-final defeat to Marat Safin on Saturday.

The Russian won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and will now play number four seed David Nalbandian after the Argentinian knocked out Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets 6-4 6-4.

Agassi struggled to find his form in the first set and although he was able to pick his game up in the second, Safin's positive tennis saw him take the set and the match following a victory in the tie-break.

"It is a long time since I have played as well as that," said Safin, who now has a chance of qualifying for the Masters Cup in Houston.

"I had some bad times in the summer, but now I am playing better and better and getting my confidence back."

Safin does not enjoy playing at altitude - Madrid is 800 metres above sea level - but has competed well all week.

He admitted that he sometimes plays so badly he does not know what to do.

"When I play badly I am terrible, I can't describe how it feels, it's almost as if the ball is out of shape," he said.

"Then you feel good and everything comes so easily, so I am trying to hang in there."

"He has a big game," Agassi said. "When it fires on all cylinders he can beat anybody. He can make it look really easy.

"I never felt I settled down to play my very best. I got outplayed today in the first set, but I hung in in the second."

He was annoyed with the error he made in the tie-break, missing a key shot that allowed Safin the decisive break.

"At 4-4 in the tie-break, well it's delicate, you want to be consistent, but it's easy to be too tentative, so you let your swing go and it was too big. I just missed it," he said.

However, despite not being able to earn the chance to repeat his 2002 triumph, Agassi thought playing in Spain had been a positive experience.

"I feel it has been a good week," he said. "I've always enjoyed playing here and this year was no different. I think it is first class.

"I hope I can use a match like this to be better off next time."

The Russian gave some of the credit for his improvement to new coach Peter Lundgren.

"He has helped me improve my serve and also I am a lot calmer than before and tactically better. That's enough, although we have some things to work on before next season.

"I feel I have matured as a tennis player," he said.

"I knew he was tired from yesterday, so I concentrated on my serve and took a few risks on his. I also played well from the baseline."

"I am really happy."

Safin also gave a thumbs-up to the presence of the already famous models as ball collectors.

"It's a good idea," he said. "It has gone all around the world all week as people have discussed it, saying whether or not they think it is good. All publicity is good publicity.

"Tennis is not in a great position, so it is a way of adding excitement for the people. The girls get paid so it's good for them and it's entertainment."

Nalbandian, who has yet to drop a set this week, expects a very difficult final.

"Safin is dangerous and very complete, he has a good serve and gets forward well.

"I feel I am playing very well. I felt good in my first match here and I am trying to take advantage of that.

"The important thing is to win, rather than to win in two or three sets, although winning in two sets of course helps your confidence."

"However, you start every game from scratch."

[sirius]

MariaV said:

Oh yeah, that was priceless too!! Pay attention when you see the match tmrw Jiat! Marat smelling the flowers!!

ooh i will...i've got tape ready and everything..hope they don't cut it out then...

[sirius]

rom madrid site


Safin slams Agassi to set up Madrid showdown with Nalbandian


Madrid, 23th October 2004 (dpa) - Marat Safin rode a wave of 12 aces and 35 winners past former champion Andre Agassi and into his second final in a month with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory at the 2.425-million-euros Masters Series Madrid Saturday.

Safin seeded third, never let his opponent, who claimed the title here in 2002, into their contest, ending it in just over 90 minutes on the first of two match points.

The Russian who suddenly stormed back into form last month with a trophy at Beijing, will play Sunday's best-of-five title shootout against fourth seed David Nalbandian. The Argentine overcame 13 aces from big-hitting Croatian Ivan Ljubicic to post a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon finalist who has been dogged by injury this curtailed season, struck three aces of his own and broke once per set.

Safin was more than pleased with his sudden run of form, which keeps him position for one of the four spots remaining for next month's season-ending Masters Cup. "I'm actually surprised, you know, I had really difficult times in the summer," said the former number 1, now 42-20 on the season. "All of a sudden (in Beijing) I just played better and better".

Agassi, who hedged when asked is he will play as planned as top seed starting Monday in Stockholm; "I'm scheduled for it," was his non-commital reply.

The tennis icon, playing in his first event since the US Open, said he put in a good week. "It was a good one. I came in here without playing in a number of weeks, but I never felt like I quite settled into my best. But it was good to get through a few matches."

Agassi missed on three break points in the second set, and was unable to open the door against Safin. "I got outplayed in the first set," said the American. "I managed
to hang in there and figure out a way to give myself more chances than him in the second. But I didn't quite just get over that hump."

Nalbandian broke Ljubicic in the third game of the first set and saved a pair of break points as he served out the set. A break in the second was enough for victory over the Croatian, a childhood war refugee.

Ljubicic was playing in his second Master Series semi-final of 2004 after Hamburg on clay five months ago.

Nalbandian now stands 30-12 this season as plays in his second final after losing to Carlos Moya in Rome.

"Safin is a very dangerous and complete player," said the
Argentine. " He does everything well: he has a great serve, he returns well. He plays great behind the baseline. He comes in. He's an opponent you should be careful of, be aware of his play".

[Chiro]

OMG!!!!!

I was like freaking out all night yesterday about the match cause i wasn't able to watch it on TV and i would die watching it on the TB.. its too nail-biting... so i ended up just goin to bed (took me like 2 hrs) and i had a dream about Marat... but it was really awkward and meant nothing but when i got up and checked my e-mails while loading this website... one of the e-mails read "Marat Safin played his best tennis in quite some time, beating Andre Agassi 6-3, 7-6 (4) Saturday to advance to the final of the Madrid Masters".... and i cried i was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy for him that my brother came in and said.. "Whats wrong??" I was like Marat beat Agassi and got to the final... and he didn't believe me until i showed him the article......

I haven't felt so much happiness in a long time as you would know but this was really the best moment in quite a while... I knew Marat could do it! and about my dream.. my mum said that when he won i must have saw him in my sleep... a sign or something that he won..... whatever it was I'm soooo happy for him and I hope he can take it all the way... he really DESERVES it!!!!!

Davai Marat!!!!

[MariaV]

"When I play badly I am terrible, I can't describe how it feels, it's almost as if the ball is out of shape," he said.

MARAT!!!!!!
Another priceless quote from Marat!

[annie]

pr

MariaV said:

"When I play badly I am terrible, I can't describe how it feels, it's almost as if the ball is out of shape," he said.

MARAT!!!!!!
Another priceless quote from Marat!

well...he really has a way with words... ;D ;D
hmmm...i think, a man with a great sense of humor is indeed priceless...

anyway, i still haven't seen the semifinals match..
i'm waiting for the replay on espn which will air in about 2 hours from now...
but from what i gathered here, i think i'm gonna be
glued to the tv and watch every bit of it..
specially the funny moments...
but i'm so glad and elated and just really happy he won D ;D

[Elisabeth]

Damita said:

Elisabeth>>de rien. dommage pour la finale (enregistrement peut-être, non?

Oh je peux meme pas enregistrer le match..j'ai plus de magnétoscope!Il marche pas!(eh oui je suis une pauvre fille!lol) ;D ;D
Hier soir j'ai regardé le match...ben pour france2 2h du matin c'est 2h30..... ;D!Heureusement que tu n'avais prevenue!
En tout cas je croise les doigts et j'espere que Marat va gagner!
Profites si tu peux regarder le match!!!Tu vas lui porter chance!!!

Merci pour l'article!!!

[Damita]

Elisabeth said:

Hier soir j'ai regardé le match...ben pour france2 2h du matin c'est 2h30..... ;D!Heureusement que tu n'avais prevenue!

LOL! ouais je sais, c toujours le mm problème ... j'en pouvais plus d'attendre hier, j'avais peur qu'il y ait les infos avant le match, mais heureusement non ;D

Good luck Marat against Nalby!!!! (btw, if he wins today he'll overtake Henman for the sixth spot in the Race )

[me]

[MariaV]

A note quickly - Guille & Carla Coria at the Madrid final!
So is Guille gonna play in Houston??

[me]

again sorry for the lateness..but ASAP doesn't put it up faster....
and they don't even put up everything


2004 ATP MASTERS SERIES
MADRID, SPAIN

October 23, 2004

M. SAFIN/A. Agassi
6-3, 7-6

MARAT SAFIN

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Marat.

Q. Is that one of your best performances for some time? When did you last play that well?

MARAT SAFIN: Long time ago, really long time ago. I'm actually surprised, you know. I in really difficult times in the summer. I didn't play really well. I lost my confidence. Then all of a sudden was just... So I play better and better. Finally, I could find the confidence back. Also especially here is a little difficult for me to play - altitude. Had won a couple of matches, so I was coming already with the confidence against him. I knew that he is a little bit tired with the long match of yesterday, that I could have to concentrate a little bit of my serve and just to risk on his. I really surprised that I could play even so well from the baseline. But I was also holding my serve and I was risking. But (after?) told me he wasn't in his best shape. But still you have to give me credit for that also. I was really happy.

Q. We remember you in New York. You looked really down, really disenchanted with tennis. How much has Peter played a part in relighting the fire, if you like?

MARAT SAFIN: Just it's a little bit difficult and frustrating to go to the big tournament and be out the first day. I mean, when you have a lot of expectations and when you have already coming winning a couple of matches in Cincinnati, you know, like everything like collapsed, like my plans, like I had big expectations for the tournament. But then I took a couple of weeks of, you know, just resting, stayed a little bit there in New York, came to Moscow, didn't really practice a lot. And then I just went to China without any expectations. Didn't really expect anything to do there. And all of a sudden just I started to play better and better and better. Didn't have to put a lot of pressure on myself. I just let it go. It's easy to play this way. When you have too much expectation, like I had for the States... That's how it came. You don't have to expect anything from it. Just play, don't get frustrated because these times, of course, they will come, they will come back. You cannot play all the time great. You have to know how to deal in this kind of situation. But every time you get there, it's really frustrating, so you have to really understand the person.

Q. Do you think the Spanish crowd is behaving as you expected having lived here in Spain for such a long time?

MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) The truth is, they've been behaving well. Yesterday they were a bit mad at me, I don't really know why. I protested two balls that were not really well-judged. Maybe they were tired or something (smiling). But it's good. They enjoy tennis. That's the most important thing of all, for them to enjoy it. We work here, so we enjoy it also.

Q. What do you feel about the ball girls?

MARAT SAFIN: Great. For the people, like they have no clue about tennis, they're doing really, really good job. They know how to catch the balls. They're behaving well. They bring you the towels. So it's kind of nice. They are really doing a great job. You have to give them credit.

Q. You'd like to see more of it?

MARAT SAFIN: It gives you extra motivation.

Q. When you are playing well, as you were today, it seems to look so easy. When you're playing badly, you seem to play so badly. How do you cope with the ups and downs?

MARAT SAFIN: This is kind of problem that I have. Just when I play bad, I play terrible, terrible. It's like I cannot -- just I feel like the ball doesn't go. I'm completely out of shape. All of a sudden when you catch this moment, this moment that you are feeling you are playing great, everything comes so easy. For me it's kind of difficult to deal with that. I know it and I try to improve, even though when I'm playing bad to, you know, just hang in there and fight for it. But it's just terrible. It's really not in my power. Believe me, I'm trying.

Q. Would you say, since 2000 and the US Open, you have underachieved?

MARAT SAFIN: Since 2000, I had big opportunity to win the Australian Open in 2002. I had a couple of -- like I had semifinals of French Open. This year, Australian Open. So it's like if it would have gone my way, and I would have a little bit of luck or a little bit of extra feeling or extra something, just small thing. Because I had the motivation, I was there, I was playing great, but for some reason just I couldn't break through. Otherwise I would be already different kind of person. I would have won three Grand Slams, could have done much better in the French Open in the semifinals against Ferrero. Basically it was ridiculous how bad I played. But these kind of matches, you need a little bit of something else to win. And it completely changes you, the career. Probably is extra pressure that everybody is expect a lot from you. And also knowing this, you're putting on yourself a little bit more pressure. So it's kind of difficult to perform the way you should to be able to win these kind of tennis matches because you have already enough on the other side. Players like Johansson, the guy he has nothing to lose, he's just playing his best tennis and he's just going for it. Or Roger Federer this year, like he's on fire. Juan Carlos Ferrero, the year, all of a sudden he lost in the finals against Costa like easy, but he played great against me. I cannot give right explanation because I'm trying, but something is missing.

Q. How do you see yourself for tomorrow's match? What is your opponent's big weapon?

MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) Well, he defeated me at Roland Garros. It's a good excuse, because my feet were hurting. But I like playing against him. I feel comfortable. Now it's different. He's playing much better. He has more confidence, more experience. He knows how to play indoors. He wins great matches. Depends on the beginning of the match and how things start. Everything depends on how everything starts. After that, the match will be defined. The most important thing is to keep yourself and play well.

Q. Tomorrow will you think about Houston, the Masters, the fact that both you and Nalbandian are fighting for it?

MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) Yes, there will be a lot of pressure, that's for sure, because we both know we can get into the Masters. He's a bit behind. But if he wins the tournament, he'll get close, and he knows that. We both have lots of chances of improving and not worrying for the next weeks. We'll see who puts up with the pressure better.

Q. In the beginning of the year, for example, when you played against Agassi, you were 3-1 behind, and now you're ahead of him. What does it feel like?

MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) Well, right now I do know how to play against him. That's the thing that changes. Before I saw him with different eyes. At the beginning of the year, we played, but we hadn't played for the last two or three years. Last time we had played was, I don't know, Paris Bercy maybe. So now I'm trained to play against him. I have more experience. I serve better. I know what to do to give him problems, things that he doesn't like. I know how to tire him out, because he's 34, besides.

Q. What do you think you've improved since you worked with Peter Lundgren?

MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) Several things. Serve is much better. I'm more relaxed, calmer than before. And the strategy, because he does explain how to focus each match depending on the player. But, of course, there's a lot, many things to improve for next year. I think I should improve a few things.

Q. Just carrying on about the girls coming on, it's been said that part of the reason why we need ball girls, model ball girls, is because the game lacks enough quality or charisma amongst the male players, and we need something else on the side of the court to make it exciting. What is your opinion on that?

MARAT SAFIN: First of all, I think it's a good idea. You know that it has been around the world for all the week. Everybody is discussing all these things about the girls, like we treat the women the way they should not be treated. But it doesn't matter. Good publicity, bad publicity, they're still talking about tennis. It looks like tennis players are not exciting for the spectators. Every time I put CNN, every time they go, the first and fourth seed, withdraw from the tournament, the first seed Tim Henman lost to Ljubicic, like whatever, Agassi won, Safin won, that's it. So it's already a negative way of thinking about tennis, especially is not in a position -- is not in great position right now, tennis. So at least some excitement for tennis bringing out the girls. First of all, they get paid, so already it's a good job for them. And it's some excitement just for the people. Every time they show them on TV, the people from the stands, they like it. So it's kind of entertainment.

Q. Did Gerard run the idea past you first?

MARAT SAFIN: Yes. I thought it was great. This was really great idea. I'm totally just with this idea.

Q. Besides having served really well, you were patient on the court. Do you feel more comfortable because you're mature as a professional or mature as a person, and that's affecting your tennis?

MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) I'm more mature as a tennis player, I guess. I've learned quite a lot about how to play in matches like this, when you need to keep calm. You know your opponent is going to make great shots because he knows how to play tennis. You cannot get upset every time you miss a ball or every time he makes an ace. You need to keep concentrated and be at his level. There are a couple of shots that make the difference. If you get upset or angry, you lose it all. You need to be there all the time.

End of FastScripts….

[Carolineonline]

HE WON IT!!! WE WON IT!!! TMS MADRID!!! WHOOOHOOOO!!!
67.19.129.138/mtf/images/smilies/woohoo.gif[/img]
scoreline: 6-3 6-4 6-3… against a david nalbandian with a sore toe…<br>yaaaaaaaaay!!!! Houston.. here we come!!!!!! ;D
*happydancing all around*

[Elisabeth]

He won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vassily should be SO happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D
Well done Marat!!you are the best!!

[Teresa]

OMG OMG this is just sooooooooooooo fantastic awesome incredible wonderful OMG


Habibi I am so proud of you
smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/11/11_7_102.gif [/img]


What a match, 3 sets, just incredible, look forward to the stats and the match reports from you lucky ppl who got to see it, I so hope they do a video of the cermony, I would love to hear Marat's victory speech and see him lift the trophy. He so deserves this

smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_17_6.gif [/img]


And yes, this should mean Houston here we come ;D

Time for celebration, lots of celebration and lots and lots of happy dances

[Myke]

WHOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO ;D ;D ;D