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Post by sonya on Aug 30, 2006 23:22:17 GMT 3
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Post by lena on Aug 31, 2006 0:30:57 GMT 3
just a start I'd love ;D great win ;D ;D
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Post by sabz on Aug 31, 2006 0:50:47 GMT 3
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D HE WON HE WON HE WON!!! I went on eurosport and saw they were showing hewitt's match  but then i flicked up a channel and on eurosport 2 they were showing Marat's match again!! ;D ;D ;D i was soooo happy!!! And i have to say, i was impressed by our russian's performance (besides the lapse of concentration in the 3rd) he was just pure power and brute strength - i was in awe!!  and my heart stopped when he fell! but he is fine people!! and he WON!!! *does a happy dance* thanks for all the pics - and is it just me or does Marat really look good in that red shirt of his?  UDACHI MARAT!!! KICH NALBANDIANS BUTT!!! ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Patxy on Aug 31, 2006 1:22:34 GMT 3
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Post by Madou on Aug 31, 2006 2:58:01 GMT 3
Hey guys, here's a little article on Marat I found on Bodo's blog. It's about his post match interview, his advice about the introduction of Round Robin in small tournaments, and stuff.
Big in Cincinnati - Not
Posted 08/30/2006 @ 4 :40 PM
2006_08_30_safin
Today, we had Marat Safin and Rafael Nadal back-to-back in the interview room, the deep-ice blue torture chamber where players have to answer questions – and faux questions – like, in Safin’s case, “What memories do you have from 2000, when you won here?”, or for Jet Boy Nadal, “I read a story that you had been at the World Trade Center before 9/11 and that you have visited since the Ground Zero. Can you talk about that experience, and do you plan to go this time?”
I ask such questions as much as the next guy or girl, but often I feel a pang of empathy for the player, the person (as opposed to sub-human reporter) in me always having mistrusted anyone who can speak about his or her feelings glibly, extensively, or on cue. Feelings are very different in that they seem to lose some of their authenticity, as well as intrinsic beauty, in expression. And it’s just the opposite with ideas.
Oh, we all speak a kind of shorthand around here, so I don’t want to make a big deal of it. But it’s always better to ask what someone thinks rather than what someone feels, the latter being the most private – and therefore, precious - thing we have, and the former being the most public. Thoughts, after all, are not just the currency of our communication (hence, punditry!), they’re the metal shields we fabricate to protect and defend our feelings.
I think this at least partly explains why anyone who gets interviewed a lot almost always develops a hardened attitude toward the media, matching the hardened attitude the media, in its incessant appetite for red meat, develops toward its subjects. This is a vulgar business in some ways. And that’s why I’ve always had a soft spot for the less articulate, or “open” players (Bjorn Borg, Steffi Graf, Evonne Goolagong, Pete Sampras). They’re not people who lack feelings, they’re just not very good at making shields.
Still, that makes certain characters like Safin and Nadal, two players who manage to be convey their feelings without turning them into self-serving talking points, that much more welcome.
Shorn of his long hair, Marat seems a less brooding, self-flagellating fellow. I had two things I specifically wanted to ask him about: one of them more or less on behalf of the TW Tribe, which includes an elite cadre of Safin KADs, the other about the topic we’ve been discussing most of yesterday and today, the proposed ATP tour rule and format changes.
So I asked Marat if he was aware of the degree to which his fans (can you hear me, D-Wiz, Lucy?) live and die by their matches, reading into every shanked forehand (no shortage of those these days!) or eye-roll yet another imminent, god-awful explosion, kind of like when they blow up a huge stadium live in television. Did he have any sympathy at all for the poor souls, tossed about all match long, on the heaving seas of Safin’s unruly and self-punishing genius?
He said:
Well, I thank them for that, and I'm pretty happy that a lot of people like at 11 o'clock in the morning there was some people sitting there even with the terrible weather we have right now. They were sitting there clapping and applauding, they want you to win. It would be pretty great. I really think that during all these years when I was playing good and when I was playing bad, people still come to my matches and try to support me even though I was playing terribly. They were still behind me. I think it's a great feeling to be able to have so many fans and so many people really care about you.
And before we get to Marat’s thoughts on the rule changes, here’s an update on his coaching situation: He’s taking a break from “Mr. Lundgren” for the best reasons of all: “I didn’t win a lot of matches. I had difficult losses.” They agreed that Safin would go on the U.S.summer circuit alone, and that they would speak again after the U.S. Open.
Of course, being Safin’s coach is a glass-half-empty, glass-half-full proposition: This isn’t the most coachable guy in the world; after all, he’s drawn to the flame of competition just as much for its promise of self-immolation as glory. On the other hand, contemplate the clay with which you’d be working, and just think of the surplus chicks!
Coaches, who at this level can turn from enablers into predators, are licking their chops over the meal ticket Safin represents, yet he says only two of them have approached him. That may be because, when you’re dealing with a guy like Safin, a direct approach is bound to diminish your allure by half. Have any of you guys (it’s different for girls) noticed that the biggest catches you’re apt to have in the dating game are the ones who asked you out - often because you didn't think you had a shot?
One reporter, though, pressed Safin on a potential relationship with Gabriel Markus (the coach of Nicholas Massu). And Safin’s response was telling of the way the meat market in tennis works:
Okay, I'm gonna answer this question because I'm sick and tired of like everybody's coming to me and asking me the same question. It's really getting on my nerves. I was in Cincinnati was really like I had nothing to do. For me , being alone there - have you ever been there? (laughter).
So just go there and see how depressing is that place is. Then if somebody offers to play with you, you know, couple of times, and really is a nice guy. I think he is great guy, and I know him for a long time. Also from the challenger, when I was starting in the challengers I knew him already there because he was coaching some players.
He offered me if you want to play with me a couple of times without no ‑‑ nothing involved, no coaching issues, just if you want to hit some balls, just let me know. So I hit with him couple of balls, and then all of a sudden everybody start to speak about that I'm splitting up with Lundgren and I'm going with Markus. No, it's not. I'm not with Gabriel Markus. He's the coach of Massu, and that's it. He's person I know and he try to help me a little bit, that's it.
Actually, I followed up on that, asking if he felt people tried to work all the angles with him because of his checkbook, talent and fame, and his response was pure, unadulterated Marat:
Who cares? I'm 104 in the world and I'm 26 years old, so I been already on the tour for eight years so try to bullshit me and nobody has a chance.
So is like nobody can take advantage of me. I know what I want, I know what I need, and I'm looking for that. Just sometimes the things don't go the way you want them to go, and you trying, keep on trying. Then something will happen and I will decide what will happen.
Hopefully, it will happen soon so I can get back in top hundred and start winning matches. I'm making some decisions right now.
Okay, now that I’ve ruined Markus’s day, shall we move along?
On the proposed round robin format, Marat said:
Yeah, we spoke about it in
Dubai
. The meeting was Federer, was Nadal, me, Andre, and we sat down with Etienne. I think he's a great guy. I think he's great for tennis. Unfortunately, we have a lot of old guys running also an ATP that, in my opinion, should have been gone also, because you cannot have the same people from the old school and trying to make the tennis different. Could you imagine in ten years and they're still here and taking already different position.Dubai.The new guys coming, and it's like kind of ‑‑ because he knows what he wants, Etienne. But at the beginning, when he came in, he didn't really knew where is it all going, and he wanted to make some changes. To be able to make some changes, you need to be updated by some of the players, which is why we sit down in and we suggested him to make a little bit ‑‑ create something different.
Because look's what happening, because the tennis is so even right now. For example, if you go to a tournament and you have like ‑‑ you bring Federer, you bring Roddick, Blake, or somebody else, you never know what's gonna happen, if they gonna arrive to the final or not. Not like before if you were bringing McEnroe and Borg, for example, it's gonna be for sure the final. Right now, you never know.
So to be able to sell tickets and to be able to be successful, the tournaments to have success and have a great finals, they need to have a Round Robin. Because the good players, they always qualify to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and to the finals basically.
So already Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they will have the good players playing for the championship. And Round Robin, I think it's a great thing. You play the same amount of matches as a normal tournament (sic) and you have a chance, even if Agassi is losing ‑‑ for example, if I'm losing the first round in the Round Robin, I still have a chance to qualify to the quarterfinals.
So I think it's great for the good players. When they're unlucky and lose to somebody, they still have a chance, you know. Also for the tournament directors I think it's great. It's much better to sell the tickets.
Someone asked Safin if he was concerned about having to play more matches, overall – and remember, Safin has been quite vocal in the past about the burden represented by the ATP’s commitment policies.
I don't care. I can play ‑‑ you know, like we have to support a little bit the tournaments and make sure that they are ‑‑ also the spectators, they get what they want. They don't want to see same finals. That's ridiculous. Like Casablana nobody's watching the finals. So it pays to have good players in the draw and make sure their good tennis players are in the final.
That sounds awfully good and shows some welcome team spirit, but all I can say to Safin, Federer, Nadal et al is: Be careful what you wish for. More importantly, let’s remember that, historically, tennis players have been very good at talking the talk, and less good at walking the walk.
That is, they’ve been known to back ideas to the hilt only to rush headlong in the other direction once those ideas are implemented, and the personal cost of their enthusiasm is billed. This is experience speaking, not cynicism, and I don't hold it against the players. It has been observed that self-interest is the lodestar of every nation, and you can just as easily substitute “player” for “nation.” That makes things messy, but not nearly as messy or complicated as the result of ignoring that reality.
Before he left the press conference, Marat was asked: “Back in 2000 I think a lot of people thought you were going to be dominant for a long time. What do you think happened over the last six years? Is it injuries? Anything you can point to
Safin smiled and replied: “The people, they were wrong.”
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Post by kuniochi on Aug 31, 2006 3:05:45 GMT 3
OOP is out. No Marat tomorrow, he'll play against Nalby on Friday! Madou, 10zz a million!  Great read! Thanks to everyone for the picz and other stuffs! ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Patxy on Aug 31, 2006 3:45:41 GMT 3
A temperamental Marat like always  ;D  Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin, the winners here five and six years ago respectively, also won comfortably. Hewitt, who had been a doubtful starter because of a knee injury, beat Albert Montanes in straight sets, while Safin beat Robin Vik in four.
Safin has struggled to find his form following a knee injury that kept him off court for six months and is now ranked No 104 in the world. He is here on his own, having decided to take a break from working with Peter Lundgren, Federer's former coach.
The 26-year-old Russian showed he had lost none of his fire when he was asked whether Gabriel Markus, the coach of Nicolas Massu, might work with him, the two men having been seen on court together in Cincinnati earlier this month.
"I'm sick and tired of everybody asking me the same question," Safin said. "It's really getting on my nerves. I was in Cincinnati and I had nothing to do. I was alone in Cincinnati. Have you ever been there? Just go there and see how depressing that place is.
"He offered to play with me and then all of a sudden everybody starts to say I'm splitting up with Lundgren and going with Markus." sport.independent.co.uk/tennis/article1222752.ece |
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Post by love15 on Aug 31, 2006 7:07:39 GMT 3
[glow=red,2,300]WOOOT WOOOT!!! YIPEEEEE ! ! ![/glow] you can do it, you can do it man its damn stressful having to wait for the great news on the threads but if its all good i dont mind ! ! even more reason to push my parents into getting pay TV LOL... good luck against Nalby boy, XoXoX just keep focused u gotta do it so i can prove to all my mates that ur TOPS and not some 2 hit grand slam wonder  |
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Post by carole on Aug 31, 2006 9:05:24 GMT 3
Thanks so much Madou for the article ! Now i'm near to be a fan of Bodo ! |
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Post by emma on Aug 31, 2006 10:11:29 GMT 3
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ace
Junior Member
Posts: 58
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Post by ace on Aug 31, 2006 10:38:01 GMT 3
Yeah! I am so relieved! I saw the score online at work since I assumed they would never show his match. Then when I got home the TV channel actually surprised me and cut away from Nadal's match to show Marat!!!! It really made my day. Godd job Marat!!!! Oh man, the red shirt was beautiful too Thanks for all the great pics! Jim Courier and John McEnroe added some nice commentary as well. Such as when John advised Marat not to go for this shot before he has children....  Anyway, great job Marat and good luck against Nalbandian! |
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Post by lena on Aug 31, 2006 10:41:24 GMT 3
thanks for all this nice pics , I really like this red shirt and Marat looks like at his winning time ;D stay focus and continue this performance  |
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Post by Madou on Aug 31, 2006 12:57:03 GMT 3
You're welcome Carole & Kun. Bodo is a very interesting writer, even if I don't agree with him on many points: he knows the game. Thanks for the pics, I love the red shirt too , and thanks Safinadal for the article !!! |
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UDACHI MARAT!!!
but then i flicked up a channel and on eurosport 2 they were showing Marat's match again!! ;D ;D ;D i was soooo happy!!!
;D 
"Why did it take you so long to come to the press conference?" 
