Articles about Marat

[Anne]

From: www.russiatoday.ru/sports/news/23114 Interesting!


Safin to play in Davis Cup quarter-final

Russian Davis Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev says two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin will play a part in Russia’s quarter-final tie against the Czech Republic next week at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Marat Safin and Dmitry Tursunov opened Russia’s practice session almost a week before the start of the tie, both having just arrived from the Miami Masters where Safin lost his third straight opening match this year.

Safin's won just one game so far this season but remains the fans’ choice and his presence in the team after a one-year break adds to the atmosphere.

Team Captain Shamil Tarpishchev says the team’s extremely fit, so he has a rare chance to choose from a variety of top class players.

“I have to wait and see who feels more comfortable on this kind of surface, and only then I’ll make up my mind. However, I’m sure Safin will play in this tie. His appearance in the singles is a possibility because Nikolay Davydenko is still at the Miami Masters and it won't be that he'll arrive in Moscow until Tuesday," Tarpishchev said.

Meanwhile, Safin gave his own view of his recent form: “I’ve won just one official match this year - not the best of starts to the season. But I’m eager to do better, especially with the team,” he said.

Tarpishchev also gave his views on the recent emotional turmoil of Mikhail Youzhny. The Russian beat his head with a racket because of an unforced error in his match against Nicolas Almagro.

“He’s the most emotional of Russian players. I don’t see any negative tendency in that single incident. He’s willing to play for the team and hopefully will be able to,” he said.

Igor Andreev, who’s also been named in the preliminary team, will arrive in Moscow on Sunday.

The Czechs, led by world number ten Tomas Berdych and the experienced Radek Stepanek, are expected on the same day as well.

[helloticky]

thanks again Anna ^_^

[annie]

Thanks for the update...looking forward to it...

[Annie]

Safin Seeks Part-Time Help From Rosset

By Tennis Week
Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Marat Safin's winless streak has stretched to nearly three months and his ranking has plummeted to No. 87, but the 28-year-old Russian hopes to find his footing during the upcoming clay-court season with a new approach and the help of an old friend as a fill-in coach.

Safin, whose coach Hernan Gumy has returned to Argentina to be with his wife now in her ninth month of pregnancy, announced he will work with former top 10 player Marc Rosset during Gumy's absence for the start of the clay-court season. Safin said he hopes Gumy will rejoin him in either Rome or Hamburg.

"Hernan is one of the better things that has happened to me in the last few years," Safin told his official web site Marat Safin.com. "He’s a great coach and a good friend and I am sorry we did not get together earlier though I have known him many many years."

Rosset, who reached a career-high rank of No. 9 and concluded his career with a 433-351 singles record, is expected to join Safin for the start of the upcoming clay-court season until Gumy returns.

"Marc Rosset was very kind to offer to accompany me in the next few events," Safin said. "I am very grateful to him and it looks like he will help me out until Gumy comes back."

The former World No. 1 has lost five straight matches since beating Ernests Gulbis in the opening round of the Australian Open. The 2005 Australian Open champion battled back from a two-set deficit against 16th-ranked Marcos Baghdatis in the second round of the Melbourne major before losing in a five-set struggle, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6.

Since that loss, Safin has managed to win just two sets suffering an opening-round loss to Jurgen Melzer in Indian Wells and an upset to American Bobby Reynolds in Miami. In retrospect, Safin said the Baghdatis loss stalled his momentum.

"I think I was in very good shape in Australia and was a bit unlucky against Baghdatis — it was a good match and if I had won it things would have looked different," Safin said. "Then I went back to Moscow, I suffered an injury which sidelined me for two weeks and I think I got out of the positive rhythm. I then flew to the States and during the whole time I felt physically in a good shape but never got the rhythm back in my game. Both my losses in Memphis and Vegas were very disappointing and I didn’t play well. Against Melzer in Indian Wells I played well for certain periods but couldn’t really convert it into a win. I was really disappointed and had some very negative thoughts after the match and I think this is what lost me my confidence completely getting into Miami. The fact that I didn’t win the match against Reynolds in Miami was not a positive sign as this was the kind of matches in the past I would have won easy. I did a lot of thinking after that and took some decisions in this regard."

Safin, who is seeking wild cards for Masters Series events in Monte-Carlo (April 19-27), Rome (May 5-11) and Hamburg (May 12-18 ), said in an effort to alleviate pressure to revive his ranking he will refrain from setting ambitious goals.

"I think that I have done a lot in tennis from a long career," said Safin, who has not won a title since beating Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt in succession to capture the 2005 Australian Open. "Don’t forget I started at a very young age and have been travelling for over 10 years and I am paying the price now. I have decided to really take all the pressure from me, to keep on playing for as long as I am still enjoying it and not to look at the rankings or set myself too high a goal."

[happy]

Thanks Annie for the interview and translation!!!!
Marat words are good choiced! He is very intelligent, I love that!!! He is smart!!!

[annie]

Yes, thank you Annie. It's good to hear(read) him talking in such manner. It's good that that's the way he's looking at things...i'm happy for him.

[SAFINNO1]

Failed legend-hoodby: Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
posted: Friday, May 9, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry
filed under: Tennis

We all know who the living legends of tennis are, thanks to the indisputable and immutable records they produced. But how about potential living legends who maybe did a little too much living to become legends, or had some fatal flaw -- or rotten luck -- that prevented them from joining the elite company of the Lavers, Federers, Navratilovas and Grafs of this world? Here are five players who may have had a shot at legend-hood, but let it slip away:

Ilie Nastase: Imagine if Ludwig von Beethoven had never bothered to write all that music for which he's famous. He'd still be a genius, right? You get the picture. Nastase may have been the most gifted player ever to swing a racket, and while he won his fair share of big events (including two Grand Slam titles in five major finals), he'll be better remembered for how often he was upset, or had borderline scary mental meltdowns on the court.
Nastase was one of the all-time great movers in tennis, and more than any other player -- including Roger Federer -- the racket seemed like the natural extension of his arm, rather than an instrument whose use he had mastered. A healthy appetite for chaos, self-sabotage and concentration-zapping anxiety undid him on more major occasions that we can count.

Miloslav Mecir: This square-shouldered, superbly gifted player from Slovakia was nicknamed "The Big Cat" by his peers. His anticipation and ball control were so good that he hardly ever seemed to be running, and he put up huge wins routinely. He won the singles gold medal at the Seoul Olympic Games and reached two Grand Slam finals -- losing to his nemesis Ivan Lendl on both occasion (U.S. Open 1986, Australian Open, 1989). He never had a chance to figure Lendl out, because he was out of the game with a bad back in 1990 at just 26.

Marat Safin: I'm not going to be the one to sign the death certificate, but at this point it's hard to imagine that this tall, powerful, ultra-charismatic Russian will be a major force in tennis again. Balls just exploded off Safin's racket; he had/has one of the best, forehand-backhand-one-two punches of all time. He's the only guy who showed that, at this best, he could whip an in-form Roger Federer on hard courts.
Safin, who briefly held the No. 1 ranking in 2000, was the most impressive player to pop on the radar since Pete Sampras. In fact, his brilliant Grand Slam champion debut was a stunning upset of Sampras himself, then the top player in the world and at the peak of his powers. Safin beat him like a drum 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 at the U.S. Open and Sampras said, "He's the real deal."
But Safin enjoyed the good life and failed to come to grips with some basics, like the challenge posed by Wimbledon. He won his only other major in Australia in 2005, beating Federer and Hewitt in back-to-back matches. You wonder, "Sure the guy's a goofball but how could he not have won at least three or four more majors?

Hana Mandlikova: A four-time Grand Slam champ and four-time runner-up, this is the forgotten woman of recent tennis history. It didn't help her cause that injuries and a loss of confidence led to her retirement at the relatively young age of 28. Mandlikova was in her own way an extraordinary player -- at her best, she was a slightly taller, more powerful Justine Henin. But she was also moody, uncharismatic (see "Safin") and prone to horrific lapses of concentration that resulted in shank-a-thons that would make the most ham-fisted recreational player cringe.

Tracy Austin: Sure, the name is familiar to most American baby boomers, and to a new generation of tennis fans (because of Austin's tennis commentary). But few people really appreciate that this pig-tailed prodigy was tennis' ultimate lion-hearted prodigy. Austin was just 14 years and 28 days old when she blew up on the pro tour, winning her first event in 1977. By that September, she was a U.S. Open quarterfinalist.
Austin would go on to win the event in 1979, before she turned 17, to stop Chris Evert's bid for a fifth U.S. title. In 1981, Austin won the U.S. Open again, beating Martina Navratilova who was just entering her career sweet spot. The truth is that Austin scared the daylights out of the two divas who dominated the tour, but her back was pretty much shot by the time she was 23, and she played only sporadically thereafter.

[maryb]

Mediocrity commenting on genius. It will be forever thus.

Wimbles is a 'basic'? LMAO. Who is THIS guy?

Liked the indecisive comment 'had/has' one of the best ... Make your mind up sunshine.

Ignore it Big Yin. Think of Agassi. Written off, played qualis again ... and went on to one of the most successful periods of his career.

Let's rub Mr Bodo's nose in it. Revenge is a dish best served cold ...

[tinuviel]

Well said Mary

As if this guy has ever done anything but whinge about other people who have more talent than he (probably) has in his little finger.

[safin4eva]

Totally agree with you mary and tinuviel

this guy can shove his comments up his a**
god, i hate it when people write marat off like this, theres no
reason why he cant get back to top form and possibly win another grand slam!

... and they wonder why he gets angry when they ask him stupid questions...

[annie]

Hell...it's Peter Bodo. When did we ever liked what he has to say about Marat...? (okay, so maybe there were a few occasions...but those are very rare) In any case, if Marat is to hear or read of such article...i don't think he'd care much, so we shouldn't either. If anything, it should serve as a challenge of some sort.

[justsafin]

Mr. Bodo can't never leave Marat alone, can he? He so likes to "talk" about Marat.

I always wonder why .......

[hellanvodka]

May 13, 2008 14:49:54 GMT 3 justsafin said:

Mr. Bodo can't never leave Marat alone, can he? He so likes to "talk" about Marat.

I always wonder why .......

]

"bodo" sounds like "bodoo", which means "stupid" in Indonesian ;D ;D... so someone with a name like that explains all!!!
my analyse is
he is bored, he need to survive as a journalist, if he writes about some "not so famous" players, who has few fans, who would pay attention and give a s***t of him.... Marat has ...err... maybe the biggest support group across the globe, i bet this bodo guy is an attention seeking freak!
he might just get dumped by a woman, so he had to release his stupid (bodoo) anger& massvie wasted ego& ill wish on Marat...... well..... Marat is protected by god ;D ;D ;D ;D no evil is getting through lol
we as Marat's fans plz just ignor him leave him outside and barck (like my neighbour's dogs)....appearently he has no idea what tennis and real life is!
We know our hero Marat and love him deeply... who cares about the BODO (stupid) ones???
Peace and hope Marat plays amazingly tonight!
Davai

[marti]

In fact it seems that Bodo is Marat's fan. Seriously. I don't think he writes anything really negative about him and it's clear IMHO that he wish Marat the best. Unlike many others who like to put Marat down at any opportunity and gloat about his current fall. That guy Martin (?) is good example.
So girls you are being unfair to Bodo ))

[maryb]

Still think the Big Yin should rub his nose in it though and storm back up the rankings with some lovely play. LMAO. Bodo being a fan may be trying reverse psychology, eh Marti? A kick up the erse for the Big Yin? LOL.