Articles about Marat

[sabz]

Marat's one-track mind
By Guillaume Baraise
Thursday, April 27, 2006

There are some players who leave a gaping whole in the line-up if they have to miss out on a tournament. Marat Safin is one of those types - after six months away from the circuit due to a knee injury, the Russian made a come-back at the end of February, with one thing on his mind - Roland Garros.

Marat certainly looked a little different. Long hair off the court, and a samurai-style pony-tail on it. Scratch beneath the surface, though, and nothing seems to have changed. Six months waiting for his left knee to heal certainly did nothing to dampen his sense of humour. "I've grown my hair because my father's bald, and in any case, I thought that it was now or never," he said of his new look. He also seems to have lost none of his character and his competitive spirit. In Valencia, he refused to shake the hand of his Spanish opponent Nicolas Almagro after the latter had, according to Safin, celebrated his win in their semi-final a little too openly, particularly after the Russian had suffered a mild ankle sprain. Safin's racquets have also borne the brunt of some of his recent defeats...

One thing is certain, however - the former world n°1 was glad to get back on court. The 2006 season began for him in Dubai with an impressive victory over world n°5 and fellow Russian Nikolay Davydenko. "I really missed playing tennis," he confessed at the time. "I didn't expect to win against a player of that stature so soon. I was nervous about my knee, and I've still got a few mountains to climb before I get back to the top…" Since then, Safin has done even better still, overcoming Richard Gasquet in a titanic five-setter in the Davis Cup quarter-finals. The Russian, coached by Peter Lundgren, is usually his own severest critic, but he currently seems over the moon with his level of play. "If I carry on at this rate, I'll be back in the top 10 before you know it..."

The 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open winner is famous for his lack of patience, and despite talking about taking things one step at a time, he is itching to get back to his old level of competition. Safin has never made any bones about the fact that he would love to win at Roland Garros, and even if he is not a genuine clay court specialist, it is a surface he is very much comfortable on, having learned the tricks of the trade in Valencia. In the past, however, Roland Garros has always been a bridge too far for him, with a semi-final appearance in 2002 being his best performance to date. The French public do enjoy the Russian's fighting spirit, however, but he often uses up too much energy in the first week as he struggles to get into a rhythm. By the time the business end of the tournament comes around, he tends to find that he has too little left in the tank...

If he is in peak physical condition, however, Safin should be one of the favourites in Paris. Maybe Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will have some competition after all…

[marats]

Thanks Sabz !

[highwoodchica]

thanks so much sabz!

[avalon]

Thanks Sabz

[LaFFy TaFFy]

thanks sabz

[annie]

and i jump on the bandwagon...LOL

thanks sabz!

loved the article, nice of you to share it... (<----added a little something extra...LOL)

[Madou]

Thank you Sabz !!! I know that RG is Marat's favorite tourney, but do you really think he only had it in mind when coming back? Not so sure given that he kept saying he missed tennis

[marats]

Thanks for the article !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bia2209]

thanks sabz...good stuff

[Annie]

Nice article by Peter Bodo from tennis magazine


I'm posting pictures of two equally handsome devils here, one of some guy with a bunch of chicks, one of TennisWorld's celebrated Spiritual Advisor, Miguel "Mikey" Seabra. Here is Mikey's latest post form Estoril.

After Dmitry Tursunov and Marat Safin won their first doubles match in Estoril the other day, a reporter asked Tursunov what he thought of Safin. Dmitry, a California-based, tres cool mate, joked a bit and then said: I wish I were him.

Well, the other day I found out a DVD I hadn’t seen for a while – a very interesting Indie film that actually got an Oscar nomination because of its original script, “Being John Malkovich.” It’s the story of a guy (played by John Cusack) who actually found a way into John Malkovich’s head whenever he wanted – thus getting the attention of the beautiful but snobbish girl he fancied at the office (played by Catherine Keener; I really like her naughty smile), while things were going wrong with his girlfriend (Cameron Diaz).

I actually thought the script didn’t play up to its potential and the movie could have been much better, even though John Malkovich is one of my favorite actors (plus he loves Lisbon and Portugal; he owns a restaurant and a nightclub here). Seeing the world through his eyes should be pretty interesting. Anyway, looking at the DVD in my hand, I spontaneously asked myself:If you could have a way into a tennis player’s head, which one would you choose?.

The first name that came to mind was. . . Marat Safin. Not Fed, nor Rafa, nor A-Rod. I’m pretty comfortable being who I am and never really fantasized being in someone else’s shoes, but – just like in the movie – if there was a door somewhere that would lead into a player’s mind I guess Marat’s would be the most eventful pick for me.

I’ve underlined here before that I think that in terms of pure tennis, Roger Federer and Marat Safin are the biggest talents out there – while also being so different in style and character. Roger is the controlled, modern classic that upgrades the best we’ve seen in the past; Marat is the contemporary volcano with overpowering strokes that show us a glimpse of the future.

When those two play, there are fireworks. . .and that 20-18 tie-break in the second set of the Masters Cup in 2004 was just the appetizer, foreshadowing that sumptuous semifinal at last years’ Australian Open. That remains the best match I’ve witnessed recently.

I’m in awe of Roger’s quality of play and really think he’s the best I’ve seen, but I admit rooting for Marat. He’s the most interesting character out there by a mile, he gives great pressers, something is always happening when he’s around and he really does have a big game. Besides, he made me feel like a rocket scientist several years ago. That’s why I love to see him back in Portugal, the country where he actually jump-started his pro career back in 1997.

I still remember the first time I saw him play. I was wandering around the courts at the Clube de Ténis de São Miguel, in the Terceira island of the Azores, where the qualifying of a $50,000 dollar challenger was in progress; then I just saw this big kid hammering away huge serves, smacking his backhand down the line, going wild with his forehand. We’ve had dozens of satellite circuits here in Portugal and I got to watch lots of great kids that would go on to be Grand Slam champs (Krajicek, Kafelnikov, Guga, Ferrero), but none impressed me right way, like Marat did.

The quality of the ball striking - the very sound of the ball coming off his racquet - really left me so awestruck I went after my photographer to ask him for a couple of shots of this big Russian kid – he was having lunch and was not happy to be interrupted, but I told him right there: “Hey, this kid is going to be top 5 for sure.” That convinced him to take the pictures and actually the kid managed to win and eventually go on to the main draw and then to the quarter-finals.

Actually, it was a miracle of sorts that he was in the Azores in the first place. He had originally traveled to Lisbon, where he went to the train station, thinking he could catch a train to the Azores. Just imagine the face of the woman at the desk, after this big kid asked her for a train ticket to a set of Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! That episode didn’t prevent Safin to make the trip, win some precious points and gather enough confidence to play in the next week in a much stronger challenger ($125,000 dollars) on clay in Espinho, in the north of Portugal – where he won the title.

The next year, Marat won a couple of matches in Barcelona, got injured and couldn’t defend his title in the Espinho Challenger (it was moved back on the calendar to May). Then he qualified at Roland Garros and was drawn against Andre Agassi. John Roberts, from The Independent in England, a reporter who had been to the Estoril Open previously, came to my desk at Roland Garros and asked about this mysterious Mr. X. . I replied, “Take a look at this kid (Safin), he’s going to beat Agassi”.

Not only did he beat Agassi (in five sets), in the next round he saw off Guga, the title holder, again in five. His English was tentative then, but you could tell he had charisma. Lots of it. He was already powerfully built at 18, his Marvel Comics superhero-like head looking like it was carved out of stone.

Actually, Marat looked like some bionic specimen, some kind of Drago – that was the soviet super athlete in those lousy Rocky movies you sometimes catch on TV (just so you know - I didn’t pay to see them). I mentioned that comparison to a highly respected tennis writer from the leading French sports newspaper L’Équipe, but he reacted promptly, stating he never watched Rocky films. That’s why it was funny to see the selfsame reporter comparing Marat to Drago in his column, four months later at the US Open, when Marat was about to face Pete Sampras. . . and lose.

The next year Marat played the main draw at the Estoril Open for the first time, though he lost in the first round in three sets to the lefty Moroccan wizard, Hicham Arazi. That freed him to go to the official players’ party with his Spanish girlfriend, the sister of touring pro Cristina Torrens Valero.

‘El Maratski’, still living in Spain at the time, practiced his footwork a little bit on the dance floor, and then I convinced him to help me distribute prizes for some contests that were held in the party. To grab the audience’s attention (because a lot of people still didn’t quite know who the big guy was), I remember declaring, “This lad is going to be number one in the world.”

The funny thing was, I didn’t really believe it. I had seen enough of Marat by then to decide he wouldn’t be consistent enough to get to the top. He had huge potential, but he was a nut case... although a very talented one. By that time, Marat was already smashing racquets by the dozen, but at least it was something playing out within himself – a sign of his tortured, Dostoyevskian character. He was incapable of dealing with his own perfectionism. But here’s something else: he was never disrespectful towards the umpire, or an opponent.

Then he crucified the fully mature, supremely confident, Grand Slam title-rich Sampras in that 2000 US Open final. At the time, Pete was a remarkable 13 of 15 in Major finals), and I felt proud when the kid that wanted to take the train to the Azores mentioned in the post-match press conference that those two weeks in Portugal exactly three years ago had been a decisive step in his career. He went on to become Number One a month later, and came to Portugal to play the Masters Cup - practically sure he would end the year at the top.

Gustavo Kuerten needed a miracle to beat out Marat, but that’s just what he got. Guga beat Sampras in the semis and Agassi (who had beaten Marat in the other semi) in the final to become the only number one player to grab the top spot in the LAST match of the season.

The rest of Marat’s career is well documented history – his tormented mind when things go wrong, the busty Safinettes, the nomination as one of the “ 50 Most Intriguing Persons in The World”, the foray to Hugh Heffner’s Play-Boy Mansion (incidentally, he told me there are thousands of girls in Moscow prettier than the Playmates he found there), the smashed racquets, the injuries, the titles, all those outrageously candid quotes in the media room, etc, etc. Some would say he became a smart-ass, but I have an episode from the Estoril Open that, even though it cost me my cell phone, showed me Marat is truly a good guy.

Marat lost here the 2004 final to Juan Ignacio Chela, who was simply in the zone; meanwhile, Marat lost his mind after umpire Romano Grillotti issued him a warning for audible obscenity, and a penalty point for racquet abuse. When I went on court to interview Marat and Chela, I left my overcoat on the photographers pit. When the trophy presentation ended, Marat stormed out of the court. When I went to get my coat, I noticed that the runner-up trophy was still right there, by the chair Marat had used. I thought he had forgotten it, so grabbed the trophy and quickly went after him.

Marat was already in the press room by then, and when he saw me with the cup, he said, “I left it (the trophy) out there on purpose!”. I then realized that because of the trophy, I had neglected to pick up my overcoat. When I got back to the photog pit, it was gone forever – with my glasses and a mobile phone with 500 precious numbers on it. And it really pissed me off- especially when I worked out that Marat would probably leave the unwanted trophy in the locker room, or put it in the garbage.

A couple of days later, a friend of mine – a car magazine editor – called me from Monte-Carlo. He told me that he had flown from Lisbon to Nice with Safin (automobile journos and tennis superstars fly first class. . .), and that Marat had his Estoril Open trophy in the seat next to him. He didn’t want the runner-up trophy, but in the end he kept it. That episode says a lot about him.

Two years later, he’s back – gunning to win the title (after a first round in 1999, quarters in 2002, and that awful final in 2004) , a task that would be a lot less daunting if he wasn’t fighting chronic tendonitis in his knee, and looking to find his rhythm back.

Let’s see how he does here… meanwhile, start thinking and posting: if you had access to a tennis players mind, who would you like him/her to be?

Who wants to be Marat Safin?

[avalon]

Thanks Annie ;D

[Giselle]

GREAT ARTICLE THANKS A LOT! I though that to myself the first time I saw him on court..i wasn't the only one.

[marats]

Great article Anie !

[pau]

Thanks a lot for the article Annie, it's great!!!!

[kittycatnat]

Thanks for the articles Sabz and Annie!!!