Welcome to the last episode of Savoring Safin in the City of Love.
At least for this year. Reporting on her own from Bercy, Bia, High Priestess of Deviousness.
Yesterday was fairly straightforward.
Once they let us in (not until 13:30 even though the box office is meant to be open at 11
) I went to my seat. Opposite the ump and a little to the left.
Fabrice Santoro was warming up on Center court with his doubles partner.
Finally 2 pm came and the first match started. Robredo struggled quite a lot. Nieminen was playing very well.
Robredo thought he had the first set in the bag when he was serving for it at 5-3 but he choked and lost the first set tiebreak.
The second set also went to a tiebreak and this took them another hour. In the end Robredo won it in three sets and nearly that many hours.
After that it was time for Bambi and Kolya. Kolya started off a little slowly and Mario was playing aggressive from the baseline. But it didn’t last.
Pretty soon, Kolya was dictating play and making Mario run. Right then left, the left than right. I think Mario mistook his tactics. He might have given Kolya more trouble if he’d come to the net more.
Kolya wrapped things up quickly. He’s playing a very high level of tennis. He’s lost all of 8 games this entire tournament which is impressive. Now that Marat is out, I think he has an excellent chance of winning. I hope so anyway.
Then it was time for Berdych and Hrbaty. They are very similar players, that like to play hard and flat. It was very impressive to see how fast the ball would move when they really went at it.
Tomas wasn’t at the races today he was quickly out of the first set. Hrbaty lost it totally in the second but then was right back on top in the third.
There was this little boy sitting behind me that wouldn’t shut up. In the beginning it was kind of cute.
Daddy what’s a tiebreak? Daddy who are you for? Daddy how many games in a set? About four hours later it wasn’t cute anymore.
Then finally it was time for the match we’d all been waiting for. I was nerve wracked.
I wanted it for him so much.
The beginning of the match was quite balanced. You got the feeling neither of them were really taking charge. They were feeling each other out. Marat lost the first set tie break amongst quite a bit of screaming and racket throwing.
The body language was a bit conflicting. On the one hand he looked like a how little kids look when they get tired and start fidgeting and on the other hand he stuck with it in the second set. He broke at the best time and served it out.
He lost it on his own in the third, conceding an early break. He had his chances to get it back but didn’t take them. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
I’m still really pleased for him that he got his main objective accomplished. He’ll be seeded at the Aussie Open.
A few months, weeks ago even, there were a lot of people that didn’t think he’d get there. But he has and I’m really proud of him. I hope he’s proud of him too.
You could tell he was feeling the emotions afterwards. They interviewed him courtside and there is this one close up of him where he’s pinching the bridge of his nose. I’m fairly sure there were tears in his eyes.
Which of course was heart breaking for me. I hate seeing him upset and I’m bad at dealing with it.
*goes to give Marat big hug and lots of
*
In his speech courtside he talked mostly about the fans. He said he really appreciated them, that playing here was always a pleasure for him. That no matter if he was playing late, or playing good, or playing bad, or behaving good, or behaving bad, the fans were always behind him so thanks to them for that.
He said that he wouldn’t win his fourth title this year but that hopefully he’ll be back next year and have his chance. And hopefully that there will be no more injuries so he can come every year and not every other year. ;D
And that’s it. Marat left, the crowd was on its feet, applauding him.
It’s been an intense couple of days but I enjoyed it very much. It was nice meeting people from TGFR. It was even nicer seeing Marat play well, win some matches and achieve at least one of his objectives.
Now he can go home and get some rest before the Davis Cup final and so can I.
Signing off for the last time from the City of Love.
Bia, High Priestess of Deviousness.
;D ;D ;D
Dreams unwind but still it's a state of mind,..I know - Dreams unwind but still it's hard to find - Stevie Nicks...“Marat Safin is a self-tortured genius. He's off the wall with tremendous physical talent. “John Mc Enroe
)
Sixpack guard 
) I went to my seat. Opposite the ump and a little to the left. 
I wanted it for him so much. 
