Articles about Marat

[Annie]

Justsafin thanks a million for the interview But since it's mainly on the DC tie, I moved it to the DC thread Hope you don't mind and thanks again ;D

[justsafin]

no prob, Annie!!

[Annie]

Here's an article by Peter Bodo of Tennis Magazine called "Safinista."

Okay, everyone, I hope you had a great Easter, Passover, Whatever (a nice weekend free of Holiday or Holy Day obligations?). We had a family Easter gathering, although my family is pretty expert at stripping religious associations from religious holidays; to them the salutation He is Risen! means, Wow, the Easter Bunny Woke up and left Lots of Chocolate! I don't buck the gestalt, although my Evil Twin wanted to just throw out something on that Barack Obama as Jesus Christ statue, just to see what happens when you mixed politics, religion and the usual family-based angst and sensitives in one big honkin' invitation to scream and shout at each other. I refrained. How mature am I?

We had pretty wild weather in game-Rich Andes; Cowboy Luke went on his Easter egg hunt in a ski parka and gloves (no, that's not him in the picture), in one of those snow squalls in which the flakes are flying sideways, you can barely see a hand in front of your face, and you could easily mistake a bead of deer poop for a Raisenette (which is easy to do under the best of conditions) - provided you could see it. It was a good weekend, I did a lot of dishes and was left wondering if, with the help of some redneck ingenuity, I could strip the insides of a refrigerator and turn it, with the help of some duct tape and sections of garden hose, into a dishwasher. Those big pots and platters are a bear to wash!

I watched some of the Davis Cup, happy to see James Blake step up and win a singles match that actually counted for something. Now I think the U.S. is as well-positioned as at any time in recent years to win the Cup. The intriguing question is what surface Captain Mats will choose - ultra-slow clay to make the U.S. players as uncomfortable and hesitant as possible? A fast indoor court, based on how well the Swedes performed this time around? How about grass, if they could find the stuff in Sweden in September, with old-guy Bjorkman playing singles and doubles?

Clay appears to be the no-brainer, but in Davis Cup the Swedes aren't afraid to roll the die. And while fast indoor carpet was the logical choice for their tie against Argentina, the performance of the Swedish players on the fast surface was still noteworthy: David Nalbandian is Argentina's big singles gun (he had a 12-2 DC singles record going in), and the high points on his resume are a Wimbledon final and YEC victory on indoor carpet. He is the mold-breaking South American, and for that he doesn't get enough credit.

The tie I found most intriguing was Russia vs. France, even if you keep in mind that France is capable of stinking up the joint against anyone, anywhere, anytime. Does any nation produce comparable numbers of gifted players who can't win squat? The tantalizing story line going in was that France captain Guy Forget wanted his best singles players available for service, even if it meant diminishing France's chance to win the doubles. I thought that was a key miscalculation, given the tremendous impact doubles, the pivotal "swing match" when a tie is locked at 1-1, can have. Well, the nightmare scenario for Forget came to fruition: the first-day singles were a split (it was the only tie of the quarterfinals in which that happened, meaning it was the tie that had a critical doubles match). Mr. Forget out-thunk himself, if not Russia.

But the real stroke of genius was once again provided by Russia captain Shamil Trapischev. He inserted Marat Safin, the Marquis de Safin (kick me, disappoint me, shatter my hopes, Marat, I will still always love you like a true Safinista), into the third-day program to play the decisive match. Okay, it's fun to rag on Marat for being such a knucklehead (hey, he gets all the chicas, fair is fair!). But it was brilliant of Tarpischev to hand him the ball with the game on the line because Safin has a champion's aura.

Suddenly, Paul-Henri Mathieu found himself facing one of the finest one-match players in the contemporary era - a multiple Grand Slam champion, playing in front of his home crowd. And I can only imagine how pumped Safin must have felt about being so honored, although it couldn't have hurt his confidence when he saw he would be playing PHM. The French lad had played two previous fifth-set matches with the tie on the line and lost both to - yep, you guessed it - Russians!

That Marat, he didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

Safin may be an under-achiever, but he's no choker. He showed that again on Sunday. So Sweden will host the U.S. in one semifinal, and Russia will welcome Germany (probably back to Moscow). The Germans once again showed uncharacteristic team spirit and solidarity in crushing Belgium as if it were a nation just slightly larger than Canada's Somerset Island. Russia will be a big ask, though.

But stranger things have happened. Just ask the Swedes.

[luxsword]

marat's in si's wertheim "ad-in" :

"Marat Safin
Beats Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of Monte Carlo in what is surely the best Sunday first-round match of all-time. "

[krikry]

From his official site

Open Seat 2007 Barcelona
23-29 April 2007

We caught up with Marat over the week-end in Moscow just
before his departure to Barcelona.

We wanted to discuss his feeling regarding the beginning of the
clay court season.



Q. Hi Marat.
How do you feel and when are you leaving for Barcelona?

A. I'm feeling good. I feel like I have my energies back
after the disappointment in Monte Carlo.
I even thought about skipping Barcelona after my loss in
Monte Carlo because I felt completely drained of energies, but
the last few days at home have recharged my "batteries" again.

Q. What really happened during the match in Monte Carlo (Vliegen)?

A. I felt that I had full control of the match. However always after
winning a set 6-0 it is a dangerous position because you know that
the opponent is going to change his game and start to attack more
and play more aggressive and it is always important to try and
break in the second set in order to continue the momentum.
I didn't manage to get a break up in the second set and in the tie
break I had my chances (3 match points).
In the third set I was up a break but by that time it started to
get darker and the courts became very fast and I didn't manage to
capitalize my lead and lost my serve and lost the game.

Q. It must have been very disappointing?

A. It was one of my most disappointing losses because an easy match
turned into a very difficult one, and I was looking forward to
playing Nadal who is the "King" of clay and as I have never played
him before, I wanted to challenge myself by playing him.

Q. How do you re-group mentally after such a disappointment?

A. It's not easy as a lot of things were going through my mind but
with the support of Friends and my Team and with my experience I
decided to go home for a few days, clear my head and start all
over again.
Now I'm just trying to be competitive in all my matches and get
as many wins under my belt and to hope that my confidence
will return, and with that a good streak of wins.

Q. Who is going to be traveling with you to Barcelona?

A. My long time childhood friend Danny Gomez who I grew up with
together in Valencia, as well as my fitness coach, Miguel will
join me in Barcelona.
Sasha Volkov my coach, will most probably join me at the
Masters Series events in Rome and Hamburg and on to the French.

Q. What are your plans for the week after Barcelona?

A. I am not scheduled to play the week after and will probably go to
Valencia to practice and get ready for the Masters Series event.

Q. Going a step back to the Davis Cup tie against France, can you
explain to your fans exactly what happened during the tie and why
you were not playing the entire tie and then came up so brilliantly for the final and decisive rubber?

A. We have great depth in our Davis Cup Team and don't forget that I
had been traveling overseas sincere the trip to Chile. I was very
tired and the Captain decided to play the singles with two other
players and I was scheduled to play the doubles. I was also
suffering from serious blisters on my feet. This happens to me
sometimes when I change surfaces until I get adjusted to the new
surface.
A Davis Cup always has an element of surprises and when Davydenko
could not play the rubber on the last day and Andreev stepped in,
we were all sure that he would beat Grosjean and close the
tie. It was a risk, but don't forget that Youzhny was not fit for
the last rubber due to his tiring match on the first day and I
was not fit because of my blisters.
After Andreev lost and the score was 2-2 I was shocked that I
would have to play the decisive rubber in my condition, but like
always, in Davis Cup and especially playing in Russia with the
support of the great crowd, I put the pain and inconvenience
aside and really played a terrific game.

Q. How do you feel about the semi final tie against Germany?

A. Tommy Haas is in great shape this year and Germany has a very
in depth squad and a good doubles team, but I feel that in Moscow
most likely on clay courts again, we will be the favorite team
and will probably make the finals again for the second year in a
row.
I think this will be a tremendous achievement because many times
after a team wins Davis Cup there is a natural let down so if we
can make it again it will show that we have a team with very
positive character.
There is only one problem with reaching the finals again this
year!


Q. What is the problem?

A. It will mean that my vacation at the end of the year will be very
short again for the second year in a row!!!

Thank you so much for giving us of your time.
Have a successful trip to Spain.

Marat - thanks and regards to all my Fans

[luxsword]

thanks, krikry , glad to see this posted on a forum (you know what i'm talking about )

[krikry]

You're welcome (yes, I know )

[lau]

krikry said:

You're welcome (yes, I know )

I don´t know (LOL) But thanks for posting it

[luxsword]

let's say, not all forums are run as smoothly and decently as TGFR LOL

[emma]

luxsword said:

let's say, not all forums are run as smoothly and decently as TGFR LOL

Weird..... I'm having no idea what you're talking about ;D

Stupid french forum

[luxsword]

stupid french forum's administrators LOL

[Elisabeth]

French forums are closed because of French's elections!
They were afraid people would talk about it and post related information which isn't allowed!
I guess the forums will be open again later tonight

[luxsword]

it seems so, on one particular forum, that is, but no one knows for sure... the least they could have done, was to warn us, put a little message "hello here, come back on monday, it's all closed, sorry"
they're rubbish

i mean, a fed/rafa final and no one can chat about it on a forum ? no way

[lau]

LOL I have no idea about what forum/forums are you talking about girls (I don´t want to know it either ) But lets just keep it gentle ;D I can understand your frustration girls, but we don´t encourage critics to other Marat Safin websites/forums. I´m really sorry if I somehow asked ;D ;D ;D

[emma]

Well it's a forum about tennis in general, not just about Marat

And it's not just the tennis forum that is closed.... those idiots closed ALL the forums