Post by Annie on Jun 11, 2005 19:02:19 GMT 3
Marat Safin with David Letterman on the "Late Show"
11 Sep. 2000
(Cheers and applause)
Dave: I'm mispronouncing the man's name. marat safin. marat safin. I've been saying marat safin. it's maratsafin.
Paul: oh, it' ssafin, accent on the...on the...
Dave: hope they don't take away the emmy.
(laughter) yesterday at a surprise upset, our first guest defeated pete sampras to win the u.s. open tennis champion, becoming the only russian-born player ever to earn the singles championship.
here's marat safin, ladies and gentlemen.
(cheers and applause)
(band playing) thank you very much for being here.
Marat: nice to be here.
Dave: quite a day, huh?
Marat: tough one. I didn't sleep even one hour.
Dave: you haven't slept one hour?
Marat: yes.
Dave: well, what's the problem? out celebrating, I guess, right?
Marat: no, I had my friends who were with me, so they wanted to...
Dave: did you go nuts? what do you do after you win a major championship like this? what happens? take us through that. they give you the trophy, then what happens?
Marat: then what happens? everything is coming to you. all the press, you have to talk. I played one hour and a half, and I met the press for already 25 hours. (laughter)
Dave: so the match only lasted 90 minutes, and you've been talking to press 25 hours.
Marat: yes.
Dave: so did you celebrate, did you have dinner, did you have a party? was it crazy, was it...
Marat: yeah, especially it was a nice dinner, really good atmosphere.
Dave: where did you have dinner?
Marat: sarafino.
Dave: oh!
Marat: yes. (laughter and applause)
Dave: and did you... now, you say it's all your friends, and did you, like, go to a club? are you drunk now? did you... (laughter) do you drink?
Marat: a little bit.
Dave: yeah. what were you drinking?
Marat: vodka.
Dave: vodka.
Paul: what do you expect?
Dave: vodka. (cheers and applause)
Paul: what do you expect?
Dave: now, as a top tennis star of the day... and now you're ranked number three in the world. is that where you are?
Marat: I didn't have a chance to look at it.
Dave:where were you ranked going into the tournament?
Marat: huh?
Dave: I say, where were you ranked going into the tournament? what was your ranking before the tournament?
Marat: seven.
Dave: seven.
Marat: and I was thinking about just staying in the top ten.
Dave: yeah, so I'll bet you did stay in the top ten. (laughter) seems unlikely that you would lose positions after winning the championship.
Marat: yeah, but now I'm looking forward to, you know, to a big opportunity to be number one in the world.
Dave: why, I think you probably could be number one. but see, now this brings us back to my point. should you be drinking as a... (laughter) you don't drink regularly, do you?
Marat: no, every day. (laughter and applause) for breakfast, for...
Dave: breakfast? (cheers and applause) every day for breakfast.
Marat: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Dave: for breakfast you have wheaties and "wodka." (laughter)
Marat: yes. and the cookies sometimes.
Dave: and cookies. (laughter) tell us a little bit about yourself. tell us, were you born in russia? tell us where. tell us how you came to the game of tennis. tell us, you know, everything you can here.
Marat: okay. my name is marat safin.
Dave: all right, all right. (laughter and applause) we've covered that.
Marat: I was born 20 years ago in the small city of moscow.
Dave: when did you start playing tennis? from moscow?
Marat: yes.
Dave: do you go back there now? have you been back there now? have you been back recently?
Marat: now, I win a little bit of money, so I can pay a ticket to go to moscow. (laughter)
Dave: is your family still there?
Marat: yeah.
Dave: so now, are you, like, a big star in moscow? you must be now after this victory, right?
Marat: I don't know yet.
Dave: you don't know yet, sure.
Marat: we'll see. (laughter)
Dave: and how old were you when you started playing tennis?
Marat: I was six.
Dave:six years old.
Marat: but I didn't want to play tennis. I didn't like it. but my parents, they push me. (laughter) I wanted to be a soccer player.
Dave:right.
Marat: you know, it's a typical european game. and then my parents, they decided that I'm not going to be a good soccer player, so they decided to push for tennis.
Dave: well, it worked out, didn't it? worked out pretty well. now, your mother was your coach for a while. she was also a tennis player?
Marat: yeah, until 14 years old.
Dave: and does she still coach you? does she still
have advice for your game?
Marat: not anymore in the game, but in the life senses. (laughter)
Dave:in what?
Marat: in life.
Dave: oh, in life. well, you should listen to your mother. that's great.
Marat: of course, of course.
Dave: tell mom about the "wodka." (laughter and applause) was it earlier this year you were in a tournament-- maybe it was california, I'm not sure-- and you were not doing very well in the tournament, and you actually considered giving up the game of tennis.
Marat: yeah, because I was tired. I couldn't win one set-- nothing much, one set. can you believe it? and actually, I get the fine at the beginning of this year because of tanking.
Dave: I'm sorry.
Marat: because of tanking. you know tanking?
Dave: tanking?
Marat: yes. not trying, not trying. (laughter)
Dave: oh, tanking a match, tanking a match.
Marat: yes.
Dave: oh, they said you weren't trying to win. now, where you? you were trying to win, of course.
Marat: of course, of course.
Dave: but they said you were tanking. oh, my god. so how do you go from that situation-- which was just a matter of months ago, right?-- how do you go from that, to now winning the u.s. open? and not only winning the u.s. open, defeating pete sampras in straight sets. how do you make that journey? and I'm guessing it's mostly mental, not so much physical, right?
Marat: no, just get tired of winning two games each time against other guys, and I decide to... just to change something.
Dave: now, what did you change?
Marat: I start to fight. you know, I've start to win one set, after I start to win a match, and suddenly I win a tournament.
Dave: now I've noticed... (applause) I've noticed that you've broken equipment in the past. is that right? you've actually broken rackets?
Marat: yes.
Dave: yes. (laughter)
Marat: I used to do this.
Dave: does that help you as a player? does that help focus you? or does that actually dissipate your energy and concentration?
Marat: just...the problem is that you have to pay after you break the racket. (laughter) you have to pay a fine.
Dave:oh, they fine you for that.
Marat: no, no, they say thank you, you are doing well. (cheers and applause)
Dave: and after you have an episode like that, does that help your game, or are you... does it take a while to recover from an episode like that?
Marat: during five months, it was...I broke, like, 15 rackets.
Dave: 15.
Marat: yes, in four months.
Dave: yeah.
Marat: so it didn't help me at all.
Dave: didn't help you at all. (laughter)
Marat: and now I break, like, 20 more in 6 months, and start to help sometimes. (laughter and applause)
Dave:here's an example I think we can all relate to that may be similar to what you go through. when you're driving on the freeway and somebody cuts you off, you get road rage. and suddenly it's not safe for you to be driving, because you're full of the road rage. (laughter) you know what I mean?
Marat: again, again, with the hands... yeah, yeah. (laughter)
Dave: so then, what I always do, and I think what the Triple A suggest you do, is pull over until the road rage passes. but if you continue to drive under the influence of road rage, you might cause an accident. now, that's similar to your position in tennis, isn't it?
Marat: yes, I was very close to it. yes. (laughter) actually, I felt the same situation yesterday.
Dave: now, how do you... you've beaten pete sampras before?
Marat: I don't know how. I can't remember. I don't know, but I beat him in toronto.
Dave: you beat him in toronto.
Marat: yeah, he gave me a present.
Dave: now, before the game started yesterday, and you're in the locker room getting ready, do you know you can beat him? do you think, oh, maybe I won't beat him? what is your level of confidence? what is your frame of mind before you meet the number one player in the world? what is that? what are you thinking?
Marat: in the locker room, I was so nervous. I was walking around. I didn't know what to do. I had to talk with everybody. and I thought, maybe I will have a chance. but at least I need to win one set, to show to people that I'm a player. (laughter)
Dave: right, right. and is the key to pete sampras being able to return his serve, so that he doesn't score as many aces? and if so, how do you deal with a 130-mile-an-hour serve?
Marat: you know very good tennis, you know?
Dave: I do?
Marat: yes, because it is right. you said right.
Dave: thank you very much. (cheers and applause) we've won awards. (laughter) so yesterday... (applause) how did it happen yesterday? you were able to return his serve, and you defeated him in straight sets. you broke his serve. how?
Marat: how? you want me to explain now? (laughter) it's difficult to explain, because sometimes you have to hit the ball with, you know, closed eyes. (laughter) which I did yesterday, sometimes. (laughter) it works.
Dave: pete sampras afterward said that you were the future of tennis. that's a very nice compliment, isn't it?
Marat: oh, thank you very much, thanks (applause) but it's only words, so I have to prove this.
Dave: that's right, yeah.
Marat: but because I respect a lot pete sampras, so I have to show to the people that he was right.
Dave: well, I think this is an excellent way to start, you know, winning this tournament. (laughter)
Marat: you think so?
Dave: yeah. do you know anna kournikova?
Marat: yeah, I know. (applause)
Dave: she's a countryman of yours, right?
Marat: I start play with her tennis almost in the same group.
Dave: are you friends with her? are you friendly?
Marat: yes, yes.
Dave: do you see her all the time?
Marat: yeah, we came here for the first time ten years ago. she was nine, I was ten. we came here to see the indianapolis tournament. it was... she was already in the same way like she is now. (laughter and applause)
Dave: now, did she win a tournament this year?
Marat: where? (laughter)
Dave: I thought for sure she was going to win.
Marat: she has a chance. it's four months left.
Dave: do you think she'll ever win a major tournament.
Marat: If I'll be her coach, probably yes. (applause)
Dave: are you going to play in the olympics?
Marat: definitely.
Dave: that will be exciting, won't it? are you looking forward to going there?
Marat: yes. it's a long flight.
Dave: it's a very long flight, and it's just like a week or so away. will you rest up? will you play before you go down there?
Marat: yeah, of course.
Dave: you're playing before you go down? where are you playing?
Marat: I'm leaving in ten minutes, I have to leave.
Dave: to play where?
Marat: to play uzbekistan. you know where is it?
Dave: you're playing uzbekistan?
Marat: yes.
Dave: so you're going all the way back to europe, and then you've got to go to australia to play?
Marat: yes. it's on the way. it's close, very close. (laughter)
Dave: wow. well, that's... well, take along some hot towels. (laughter and applause)
Marat: it's broken. (Refering to the Trophy lid)
Dave: it's what?
Marat: it's broken.
Dave: it is broken. I didn't break that. there you are. congratulations. nice meeting you, marat. (cheers and applause)
Marat: thank you.
Dave: congratulations on being the u.s. open champion. Marat Safin, ladies and gentlemen. we'll be right back.
Dave: how about that...marat safin?
Paul: he was great!
Dave: that was it.
