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Post by MariaV on Oct 21, 2004 0:11:49 GMT 3
The initial OOP for Thusday is out. Marat will play the very last match of the day on Central. Good! I hope my NTV+ will show it. DAVAI DAVAI MARAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by YaVaNnA on Oct 21, 2004 2:43:11 GMT 3
TEXTTEXTTEXThello everyone!!!!!!i've just arrived home from the masters, as you can imagine i'm spanish and i'm living in madrid. i have to tell u that the match marat has played today against feliciano has been the best i've ever seen.they both were playing so good... i couldn't believe it!i love safin but also feli so... i started going on sunday, i saw safin's training(he hit me when he was serving) and nearly 22 players (ferrero,agassi,etc included)i have a lot of photos.yesterday i went to the hotel and my friend took us a photo.today i've seen the practice and the match and tomorrow i'm going to see him again!!!!!and after that of course to the hotel. i'll tell u if something interesting happens 
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Post by sirius on Oct 21, 2004 3:52:18 GMT 3
TEXTTEXTTEXThello everyone!!!!!!i've just arrived home from the masters, as you can imagine i'm spanish and i'm living in madrid. i have to tell u that the match marat has played today against feliciano has been the best i've ever seen.they both were playing so good... i couldn't believe it!i love safin but also feli so... i started going on sunday, i saw safin's training(he hit me when he was serving) and nearly 22 players (ferrero,agassi,etc included)i have a lot of photos.yesterday i went to the hotel and my friend took us a photo.today i've seen the practice and the match and tomorrow i'm going to see him again!!!!!and after that of course to the hotel. i'll tell u if something interesting happens hi yavanna!! thanks for the report! marat hit you with the ball? ouch... hope u're still ok then  looking forwardx to ur next report! |
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Post by annie on Oct 21, 2004 6:51:04 GMT 3
;D ;D yay!!! i'm so happy for Marat...i hope he continues winning... say, what's the deal with those models replacing the ball boys?  wonder what marat has to say about that? anyway, i hope it doesn't distract him or anything ..on the other hand, he might feel like showing off his abilities in front of the models, then it would be great... but still, i'm jelous... ;D ;D just kidding |
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Post by MariaV on Oct 21, 2004 9:56:56 GMT 3
Hi Yavanna!!!!! IThanks for posting, I'm glad you enjoy the Madrid tournament! Must be really exciting for you to see all the players there so have fun!  BTW, at Marat's match there were no models, lol! Thank God! I hope he won't get distracted by the models if they're gonna be there today! Pleeeeeeeaase concentrate today Marat!!!! If you lose to Koubek I'll be as mad as Vass!!! |
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Post by Myke on Oct 21, 2004 10:11:51 GMT 3
Yavanna; thanks for the your story! I think the models will be at Marats match today, I thought I heard or read they only do the evening matches...  |
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Post by MariaV on Oct 21, 2004 10:25:51 GMT 3
I think the models will be at Marats match today, I thought I heard or read they only do the evening matches... Yep Myke! I think you're right and I'll be very angry if Marat gets distracted tonight!!! I watched the "Big Al" Costa- Irakli (Ruth > ) match on Monday and poor Irakli might have got distracted at the end - maybe that's why he lost. OK, j/k |
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Post by MariaV on Oct 21, 2004 12:08:22 GMT 3
Marat interview from the Madrid TMS site. Sorry it's only in Spanish. Hope you can get the idea.
Safin: “He recuperado la confianza”<br>Madrid, 20 de octubre - Entrevista a Marat Safin, que ha ganado en segunda ronda a Feliciano López por 7-5, 6-7 (5) y 6-3.
P: Marat, ¿este torneo puede servir para reivindicarte?
MARAT SAFIN: Sí, puede ser, porque he tenido una mala semana, la semana pasada. Esta semana es una más para poder entrar en el Masters. He tenido muy buen comienzo y espero que pueda seguir así.<br>
P: ¿Cómo ve el partido que acaba de jugar, tan duro como esperaba, más fácil, más difícil…?
MARAT SAFIN: Ha sido duro, ya me ha ganado en dos ocasiones en superficie rápida, en Atenas y en Hong Kong, así que sé que es un rival duro. No te da un respiro, de pronto te da un remate…, es difícil sobreponerte a él, mantener la confianza porque él tiene mucha…, así que para mí ha sido un gran comienzo en este torneo.
P: ¿Algún comentario sobre el público?
MARAT SAFIN: Es normal la actuación del público teniendo en cuenta que es un público local, él es de Madrid, tiene buenos resultados. Entiendo que la gente le apoye, pero no entiendo que se sobreactúe. Mi discusión con el juez no tiene nada que ver con él, me pareció que se adelantaba mucho en el saque… se que a la gente no le gustó esto y por eso reaccionó así.<br>
P: Psicológicamente, ¿cómo se encuentra?
MARAT SAFIN: He recuperado la confianza. He tenido unas dos muy buenas semanas en Pekín y antes de Moscú, pero en Moscú me fue muy difícil jugar y hacerme con la superficie. No venía con mucha confianza, pero este resultado me da más confianza y puntos, no puedo pedir nada más.
P: ¿Cómo ves las posibilidades de la primera ronda de la Davis del año que viene contra Chile?, ¿Cómo ves a tus rivales?
MARAT SAFIN: No tendréis muchas posibilidades. Haremos todo lo posibles para que sea así. Ya sabemos que tenéis muy buenos jugadores. Lo siento, así es la vida.
P: En cuanto a su próximo rival, Koubek ¿cómo ves el partido?
MARAT SAFIN: Respuesta difícil. Está jugando muy bien, así que será un partido muy duro. Probablemente tiene mucha confianza y hará lo posible para ganar mañana y yo tendré que tener mucho cuidado. Además es rápido, tiene mucha experiencia y puede ser un jugador muy peligroso.
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Post by Vassily on Oct 21, 2004 12:22:47 GMT 3
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Post by MariaV on Oct 21, 2004 12:46:40 GMT 3
I hope she won't mind the link here.
.... Although I'm afraid she might. So sorry Ilhame, it wasn't me who put it here - don't shout at me please! Shout at Vass!
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Post by Teresa on Oct 21, 2004 14:43:13 GMT 3
Henman is out.........he got beaten today.... Come on Marat, you have to win today and hopefully Spadea will take out Agassi ;D |
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Neo
Junior Member
Posts: 197
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Post by Neo on Oct 21, 2004 16:52:09 GMT 3
Hey, guys!!!!!!!!!! I promissed I'd give U my opinions on the match, so here goes: First set: Marat was calm, relaxed, moved very well around the court (even the commentator said that a few times), broke early, his serve was great (I also noticed a bit of an improvement in his second serve..........errrmmmm........ more diverse). He choked a bit when serving for set at 5-4, but not too much (mainly his serve dropped.......... he actually lost the game on a double fault), but got it together and broke right back, and then won it 7-5. Very few UEs in this set, great shots, he was clearly above Lopez in every way. Second set: Marat was trying to break him all the time, he was constantly up 0-30 or 15-30 or 30-40 on Lopez's serve but couldn't break cos Lopez would immediately hit two aces or smth. It was very annoying, even the comentator said that. Also, Marat was winning his own serves very easily, made great shots and what I especially liked was that he was coming to the net all the time, and very succesfully, I would say (the comentator noticed that too). Tiebreak: The tiebreak was shitty, he made mistakes and his serve dropped.......... tipical. The only good thing was that he didn't lose his temper. My personal opinion is that Marat was the better player in this set, but that's not how tennis works, sooooooo................ I can't complain. Third set: Marat served first and his serve was still a little down, but managed to win his game. Then, after Lopez won his own serve, it was all coming back, and, again, he won his serve easily. At this point, those STUPID IDIOTS that run the network I was watching it on decided that instead on reprograming the news, they would stop the live coverage......... ARGH! I'm still a little pissed off..... so the next things are just what I heard on MTF, from the guys watching it: Apparently, at one point on Lopez's serve it was 30-30, then Feli served out but the umpire called it in. Then, after Marat started arguing wih him (big surprise.........) he said that, yes, it was in, but it was too late to overrule it (......... stupid.........) so instead of 30-30 and second serve it was 40-30. Marat was obviously upset and started to get a bit angry ......... the umpire made a few other mistakes on Marat's serve (don't know any details....), so there was more arguing.......... but nevertheless Marat held his own and at 4-3 he broke and then served it out. In conclusion, the over-all feeling was that Marat was clearly in control (his level only dropped in the tiebreak.....) and was the better player. Lopez tried, he really did, but............ Another thought: Yes, he wasn't VERY agressive, but that's because he didn't need to be (the only moment when I thought he SHOULD be more agressive was during................. you guessed it!......... the tiebreak ) That's it....... I hope it's all clear now.  |
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Post by me on Oct 21, 2004 17:45:11 GMT 3
Fast script has FINALLY put up the english version of the interview..so here it is..sorry it's so late.
2004 ATP MASTERS SERIES
MADRID, SPAIN
October 20, 2004
M. SAFIN/F. Lopez
7-5, 6-7, 6-3
MARAT SAFIN
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. (In Spanish) Is this tournament going to be useful to vindicate yourself?
MARAT SAFIN: (In Spanish) Yeah, maybe because I had a bad week last week. I couldn't get the points I needed. So this week is going to help me to enter the Masters. So yes, it's a good start and I hope to continue this way.
Q. How do you see this game that you've just played? Was it as tough as you expected it would be? Even tougher? What conclusions do you think this will have for you and the rest of the tournament?
MARAT SAFIN: It's a really tough opponent for me. I lost to him twice. Both times in a very fast surface. Once was in -- I forgot the first time was where. Second time in Athens. Oh, once I lost to him a long time ago in Hong Kong. So basically he's really tough opponent to play against because he serves well, he doesn't give you any rhythm, and all of a sudden he comes with a huge, huge shot. So it's really difficult, you know, to play against these kind of players. So for me it was a really tough breakthrough to beat this kind of guy. It's a lot of confidence, huge confidence. Especially I never win a match in altitude. So it's a perfect beginning of a tournament. Couldn't be any better.
Q. Any comment on the public?
MARAT SAFIN: I mean, it's normal, of course. He's Spanish, from Madrid. People loves him. He played always well here, had great results. So, of course, the people were there to support him. But all of a sudden they get too excited because I had something against the chair umpire. It was just I had my discussions with him. Had nothing against the public and against the player, especially when I told him to be a little bit slower because he was rushing a little bit too much, you know, on the serve. So it's kind of like, you know, I told him once, twice. I told him, "Listen, man, be a little bit slower and let me time to breathe at least. I cannot prepare myself and all of a sudden turn such a huge serve like he has." So that's why probably people, they didn't really like this part. But, of course, it's normal.
Q. In which state of mind are you now? You won your first event in a while at Beijing. Do you feel like you're back on the right track now?
MARAT SAFIN: Finally I got my confidence like a few weeks ago in Beijing. I was struggling for all the summer basically. I had two good weeks, then of course a very tough week for me. In Moscow, it's very difficult for me to play, because it's too much pressure, and the surface not really suits me. It's kind of difficult to make any good results there. And this week for me, it was like I didn't have any expectation, especially I knew that I have to play against Lopez. But this kind of match gives you the huge confidence and huge opportunity, you know, to play well, to make great points, I mean, a lot of amount of points to get to the Masters, which is my main goal. So it's great, you know. Confidence and points, you couldn't ask for more.
Q. We're from Chile. The question is related to my country. Are you going to play against our country in the first round? How do you see your opponents, Massu and Gonzalez?
MARAT SAFIN: (Translated from Spanish.) We're lucky we play at home, so you won't have many chances to defeat us in our home. So the court is indoors, fast, really fast, so we will do all we can not to give you chances. As we know you have dangerous players, playing on fast courts. Massu won Athens. But I guess the court is going to be even faster. I'm sorry, that's life (smiling).
Q. As for your next rival, how do you see the match, whether it's Koubek or Gonzalez?
MARAT SAFIN: Koubek. Tough opponent. He plays -- he's kind of playing well. He passed the quallies. He beat sufficient guys like Johansson. Today he beat Gonzalez. It's going to be a tough match. He's probably very confident. He has basically nothing to lose, so he will give his best try tomorrow. I have to be careful that I should expect a lot from this guy. He is fast. He has a lot of experience. Even though he has really long downs where he's not playing well, all of a sudden he comes up with the great matches. He can be really, really dangerous.
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Post by Teresa on Oct 21, 2004 20:41:14 GMT 3
ME>> Thank you for posting the translated interview great interview I though, would have hated to have missed it, so a real big thanks.
I just LOVED this bit
AND
Neo thanks for your great match report, again I am so sorry you did not get to see the final sets, your report was very good. I so hope you will get to see some more matches and report for us all, big thanks.
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Post by Chachou on Oct 21, 2004 21:36:12 GMT 3
Does somebody know me the tomorrow's order of play?
Thanks
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