Extraordinary win for Safin
Marat Safin repaid the faith shown in him by captain Shamil Tarpischev by producing one of his best performanc's in years as he came from two sets down for the first time in his career, to beat Tomas Berdych 67 46 63 62 64.
The Russian has been written off many times in his career, but few gave Safin a chance as he opened Russia’s quarterfinal Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic’s Berdych. The contrast in form coming into the tie couldn't have been more different: Berdych, the world No. 9, reaching the semifinals of the Miami Masters, while Safin had only won one match since the turn of the year.
Berdych’s brilliance simply outshines Safin
Berdych looked the more comfortable of the two in the early stages of the match, as Safin failed to make much of an impact on the Czech's serve. As the first set went on, the Russian grew in confidence, and twice had double break points on Berdych's serve in the ninth and eleventh games. However, brilliant serving saved the world No. 9 on both occasions. Predictably the opener went all the way to a tiebreak, and it was Berdych's greater consistency which eventually saw him take it 76(5).
Safin wasn't playing badly, it was just Berdych was on fire. Both players were guilty of missing numerous break point chances in the second set, but the Czech finally managed to convert a chance in a marathon seventh game, and held on to serve out for the set, taking it 64 as frustration started to creep in Safin's game.
The intrepid Russian
Credit to the Russian, who's slipped to 87 in the world rankings, as he never gave up. Safin was rewarded in the first game of the third set, breaking his opponent for the first time in the match. Berdych, who was playing unbelievably well in the opening two sets, for the first time in the match saw his level slip as the unforced errors began to creep into his game, while Safin managed to find more consistency on his serve.
“I had my chances in the first couple of sets,” said the Russian, “and then eventually in the third Tomas started to miss some shots, getting a bit nervous, and I realised that I had been given another chance - and it worked out pretty well for me.”
It was a similar story in the fourth set, with Safin breaking Berdych in his first service game. Berdych started to see his second serve fall apart, with the Czech winning just a solitary point throughout the whole set. Safin playing with renewed confidence and levelled up the match to take it into a decider.
Safin breaks Berdych’s five-set record
Despite squandering a two-sets-to-love lead, Berdych would have felt confident going into the decider, having never lost a five-set match in his whole career. The Czech would have felt even better as for the first time since the second set, he was able to hold his opening service game.
However, it was only a matter of time before Safin broke. The Russian moved ahead in the fifth game to put himself in sight of victory. He eventually held on to take the set 64 and wrap up victory in just under four hours, to put Russia one up in the tie.
“Safin's proved once again he's a great player. He was serving unbelievably throughout the last three sets, so I couldn't put much pressure on him anymore,” said Berdych.
So is Marat Safin back? “I want to believe in the comeback and I'm expecting a lot from the clay court season. The way I played today is good enough to be somewhere around quarterfinals or semifinals. Hopefully, I can continue with the same confidence and the results will come.”
A remarkable comeback from one of tennis's true enigmas.
And his INTERVIEW: Extraordinary win for Safin
Marat Safin repaid the faith shown in him by captain Shamil Tarpischev by producing one of his best performanc's in years as he came from two sets down for the first time in his career, to beat Tomas Berdych 67 46 63 62 64.
The Russian has been written off many times in his career, but few gave Safin a chance as he opened Russia’s quarterfinal Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic’s Berdych. The contrast in form coming into the tie couldn't have been more different: Berdych, the world No. 9, reaching the semifinals of the Miami Masters, while Safin had only won one match since the turn of the year.
Berdych’s brilliance simply outshines Safin
Berdych looked the more comfortable of the two in the early stages of the match, as Safin failed to make much of an impact on the Czech's serve. As the first set went on, the Russian grew in confidence, and twice had double break points on Berdych's serve in the ninth and eleventh games. However, brilliant serving saved the world No. 9 on both occasions. Predictably the opener went all the way to a tiebreak, and it was Berdych's greater consistency which eventually saw him take it 76(5).
Safin wasn't playing badly, it was just Berdych was on fire. Both players were guilty of missing numerous break point chances in the second set, but the Czech finally managed to convert a chance in a marathon seventh game, and held on to serve out for the set, taking it 64 as frustration started to creep in Safin's game.
The intrepid Russian
Credit to the Russian, who's slipped to 87 in the world rankings, as he never gave up. Safin was rewarded in the first game of the third set, breaking his opponent for the first time in the match. Berdych, who was playing unbelievably well in the opening two sets, for the first time in the match saw his level slip as the unforced errors began to creep into his game, while Safin managed to find more consistency on his serve.
“I had my chances in the first couple of sets,” said the Russian, “and then eventually in the third Tomas started to miss some shots, getting a bit nervous, and I realised that I had been given another chance - and it worked out pretty well for me.”
It was a similar story in the fourth set, with Safin breaking Berdych in his first service game. Berdych started to see his second serve fall apart, with the Czech winning just a solitary point throughout the whole set. Safin playing with renewed confidence and levelled up the match to take it into a decider.
Safin breaks Berdych’s five-set record
Despite squandering a two-sets-to-love lead, Berdych would have felt confident going into the decider, having never lost a five-set match in his whole career. The Czech would have felt even better as for the first time since the second set, he was able to hold his opening service game.
However, it was only a matter of time before Safin broke. The Russian moved ahead in the fifth game to put himself in sight of victory. He eventually held on to take the set 64 and wrap up victory in just under four hours, to put Russia one up in the tie.
“Safin's proved once again he's a great player. He was serving unbelievably throughout the last three sets, so I couldn't put much pressure on him anymore,” said Berdych.
So is Marat Safin back? “I want to believe in the comeback and I'm expecting a lot from the clay court season. The way I played today is good enough to be somewhere around quarterfinals or semifinals. Hopefully, I can continue with the same confidence and the results will come.”
A remarkable comeback from one of tennis's true enigmas.
And his interview: Extraordinary win for Safin
Marat Safin repaid the faith shown in him by captain Shamil Tarpischev by producing one of his best performanc's in years as he came from two sets down for the first time in his career, to beat Tomas Berdych 67 46 63 62 64.
The Russian has been written off many times in his career, but few gave Safin a chance as he opened Russia’s quarterfinal Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic’s Berdych. The contrast in form coming into the tie couldn't have been more different: Berdych, the world No. 9, reaching the semifinals of the Miami Masters, while Safin had only won one match since the turn of the year.
Berdych’s brilliance simply outshines Safin
Berdych looked the more comfortable of the two in the early stages of the match, as Safin failed to make much of an impact on the Czech's serve. As the first set went on, the Russian grew in confidence, and twice had double break points on Berdych's serve in the ninth and eleventh games. However, brilliant serving saved the world No. 9 on both occasions. Predictably the opener went all the way to a tiebreak, and it was Berdych's greater consistency which eventually saw him take it 76(5).
Safin wasn't playing badly, it was just Berdych was on fire. Both players were guilty of missing numerous break point chances in the second set, but the Czech finally managed to convert a chance in a marathon seventh game, and held on to serve out for the set, taking it 64 as frustration started to creep in Safin's game.
The intrepid Russian
Credit to the Russian, who's slipped to 87 in the world rankings, as he never gave up. Safin was rewarded in the first game of the third set, breaking his opponent for the first time in the match. Berdych, who was playing unbelievably well in the opening two sets, for the first time in the match saw his level slip as the unforced errors began to creep into his game, while Safin managed to find more consistency on his serve.
“I had my chances in the first couple of sets,” said the Russian, “and then eventually in the third Tomas started to miss some shots, getting a bit nervous, and I realised that I had been given another chance - and it worked out pretty well for me.”
It was a similar story in the fourth set, with Safin breaking Berdych in his first service game. Berdych started to see his second serve fall apart, with the Czech winning just a solitary point throughout the whole set. Safin playing with renewed confidence and levelled up the match to take it into a decider.
Safin breaks Berdych’s five-set record
Despite squandering a two-sets-to-love lead, Berdych would have felt confident going into the decider, having never lost a five-set match in his whole career. The Czech would have felt even better as for the first time since the second set, he was able to hold his opening service game.
However, it was only a matter of time before Safin broke. The Russian moved ahead in the fifth game to put himself in sight of victory. He eventually held on to take the set 64 and wrap up victory in just under four hours, to put Russia one up in the tie.
“Safin's proved once again he's a great player. He was serving unbelievably throughout the last three sets, so I couldn't put much pressure on him anymore,” said Berdych.
So is Marat Safin back? “I want to believe in the comeback and I'm expecting a lot from the clay court season. The way I played today is good enough to be somewhere around quarterfinals or semifinals. Hopefully, I can continue with the same confidence and the results will come.”
A remarkable comeback from one of tennis's true enigmas.
And his INTERVIEW:
www.daviscup.com/shared/medialibrary/audio/mp3/DC_9247_mp3.MP3 
during the livescores, but had faith and believe he would manage to pull through and he did 
! Looking forward to tomorrow. Actually quite curious whether Tarpi will stay with this double team or not.. we'll see tomorrow!
