Post by Annie on Jun 28, 2005 15:39:17 GMT 3
Interview with Marat Safin
Court Central Magazine January 2004
After an almost sabbatical year, due to a persistent wrist injury, Marat Safin hit back hard at the opening of season 2004. At the beginning of January, during the Hopman Cup in Perth, we saw a far more serious Safin than at the end of last year, when he couldn't win the slightest match in five tournaments. With help from his physical trainer,Walt Landers, the former world #1 worked hard in order to make a fresh start. At the Australian Open, the big names who rose on his way fell one after the other, victims of his new measures. Thus, James Blake, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, amongst others, had to yield, before a fresher Roger Federer put an end to the amazing run by the Russian player. Here, Marat Safin speaks to us, about the hard year he has lived and about his ambitions.
Q: We didn't see you much last year since you were injured for more than six months. How did you spend your time off court?
M: Actually I couldn't do many things, because I was going from doctor to doctor trying to find out what exactly I was suffering from. Therefore I had to ask the opinion of many specialists, before knowing what I had. But by then we had arrived at the end of the season. It was in August, and I didn't really have time to make a decent comeback.
Q: But you played some tournaments at the end of the season, without winning any matches&ldots;..
M: That's right, it was difficult. I was afraid that I would hurt myself. Subconsciously I was afraid that I might worsen my injury. So I played at 50% of my ability, without being in appropriate physical shape, because I was no longer used to playing matches. Then I decided to stop once and for all and to take a holiday. It was the best thing I could do at that time.
Q: Staying away from the tour that way must have been very frustrating...
M: No, I wouldn't say it was a frustrating experience. Because without this, I wouldn't have had the perspective I had then. It was a very good experience which made me aware of some things that I couldn't see by being on the tour. By living on the tour, you're always travelling and you don't have time to take a break and to think a little.
Q: Was there one person in particular who morally helped you during this time?
M: No, not one in particular. But it's important to feel that you have friends who believe in you; people who love you for what you are, and who don't give a damn about knowing if I'm a tennis player or not. Sometimes, they can be good at giving advice. And once again, it makes you think.
Q: Did the thought enable you to see your life as a tennis player differently?
M: Yes, without a doubt. I am sure that many professional players play without really knowing what they are doing and why. They are always travelling and don't have time to think about themselves. It may be good for them, I don't know, but I can tell you that as for me, I did well by stopping and taking time to think. To decide the way I wanted to organize my player lifestyle, my schedule, and what pleased me. I know myself better now.
Q: So you don't think you're able to behave like Pete Sampras who, for years, only thought about tennis twenty-four hours a day ?
M: That's impossible. Sometimes, you have to take a holiday. There is a life apart from tennis, even right in a fast-growing career. That's necessary. You can't live only for tennis. Nobody can. Even Pete, I don't think he lived only for this. But as he was calm, discreet, and didn't go out often, he gave this image of him, which is distorted I think. But he enjoyed life his way. On the other hand, some people like to go gout. Why not? We are young, and we feel like living a little. This is not what will damage our tennis. Not if we can find a balance.
Q: Apart from tennis, what do you like to do?
M: Normal things. Going out with my friends like a normal person. Because you know, I miss my friends when I'm on tour. So I like to meet up with them again. Some friends from Moscow with whom I feel happy. We go out, we go to the cinema. Nothing special, actually. But it's enough for me to be happy.
Q: Are your best friends mostly people you met in Russia before going to the tour?
M: Yes, well there is a variety. I have old friends from school, some other friends from that time, and also new friends. It's part of the evolution of a person. We also develop apart from tennis.
Q: Are you now aware of mistakes you made in the past?
M: That's the same for everybody! When you reach a certain age, you look back in time and you think: "Well, if I were 18 again, I would do this or that in a different way". You mature by making mistakes. At 24, I can criticize my behaviour at 18. But to realize this, I had to experience some things. It's part of life. Everyone progresses at his own rate.
Q: What was your impression when you saw players of your generation such as Ferrero, Federer or Roddick winning Grand Slams in 2003?
M: They deserved it. They had to work very hard to come to that. Look at Roddick who finished the season as world #1: he changed his coach, he revised his way of working, and it proved to be efficient. For me, I was going through a different stage in my life. I wasn't crying every night because Ferrero had won Roland Garros or because Federer had won Wimbledon and the Masters. While they were winning these titles, I was far away from all this. Time will come when I have my chance again.
Q: You have just lost the Australian Open final against Roger Federer. Was it the match too many, at the end of a particularly testing fortnight?
M: Yes, I was a little too tired to withstand his rhythm. To make it, I should have been there from the beginning until the end. And I lacked a little something. I needed a little bit more energy to hold on against him. I had my chance in the first set. If I had been able to make the difference in this set, the story would have been different. I lost one set, he got confident, and it became too hard for me.
Q: But this fortnight will without a doubt give you much confidence for the rest of the season?
M: Yes it's still great for me. I never thought I could reach the final, after what happened last year. I've defeated some very good players and I will have new opportunities to defeat Federer in the future. You know, I'm not going to whip myself because I lost a match against him. He is not a nobody. He is the world #1, sorry for reminding you of this.
Q: What do you think of the arrival of your little sister Dinara on the women tour?
M: My sister is doing well. She makes her way. And I hope she continues in a good direction. Soon, she is eighteen. So she is still young. But soon she has to make decisions herself. She will have to make mistakes to progress. Because when someone else makes decisions for you, you don't think, therefore you don't progress. And she has to progress. Then, she will go far.
Q: Do you give her advice sometimes?
M: No, I don't want to give her any. She has to make mistakes. I'm saying this for her own good. As long as she enjoys playing tennis, I'm happy for her.
Q: What do you think about the strong expansion of good Russian female players?
M: We have a very good school. And there is, not a rivalry, that's not the exact word, but much ambition. They're very ambitious. Kournikova showed them the way, and now the young want to be successful like her. She was a kind of heroine for them. They are numerous on the tour from the same generation as Anna, the generation 1980-81, who, having seen her being successful, have been inspired. And I would say that there are more and more coaches who start to know better what the professional tour requires, because they travel now.
Q: Why are there more good female players than good male players coming from your country?
M: Men, it's another story; a story that I would call a sad one, because they lack ambition. I don't know why... Maybe there aren't enough coaches who understand men's tennis well enough. And to be successful, it's necessary to have skilled people around you to push you in the right direction. Today, it's difficult to find them, and I would say that this is one of the reasons why we have less good male players than female players.
Q: And what about you? Do you think that now you know the game well enough to manage by yourself?
M: Yes, I can manage by myself. I don't need a baby-sitter. I don't need somebody to wake me up at 8 AM and tell me to hit the ball. I've been travelling on the tour for five years now. At the moment I have someone I trust with me, and who is my best friend as well, Denis Golovanov. He knows tennis well, since he was world #140, and he gives me some advice. I regard him as my coach, and he should follow me on the tour this year. You know, it's hard to find a coach who is willing to follow you forty-two weeks a year. Because most of good coaches have a family and they don't want to be away from them so long.
Q: You have employed Walt Landers as a personal trainer and you worked very hard with him in Monaco in December. Does it mean that you will change your way to take tennis up, and take care of your physical condition?
M: No, not really. But I have some problems with my wrist, and some others with both of my ankles. My organism is not the same as before. I'm realizing that I'm getting more and more fragile. As you know, I've already had some problems with my elbow, with my back, and I have to be very careful and to take care of my body. I'm tall, and it means some drawbacks that I have to make up for by paying much attention to my body. So I need many massages, many cares, and to always look for the dangerous points. Walt is very good at this and in addition he trains me physically. It's handy to be helped on all these points by only one person. As a consequence, I don't need to take a whole entourage on tour to take care of me.
Q: Do you think you can reach a superior level than the one you've already reached?
M: Yes, well I don't know. All I can do is try. Of course I want to, and I'm going to do everything to make it. If I don't make it, or if my body doesn't let me make it, never mind. But I can assure you that I will do my best to carry my potential out.
Q: Are your goals for the season to be world #1 again?
M: Yes, of course, everybody wants to be #1. But it doesn't mean that I will make it because it's my purpose. The road is long and there are 365 days in a year. You have to watch that you're consistent in results, that you're focused when you have to be and doing what you have to do, practice and rest when it's necessary. Just do your job well. And when there is an opportunity, you have to grasp it. Sometimes one or two points make the difference in a match. It can change a season, even a career!
Q: Do you think that for you it's harder to reach the top now than a few years ago?
M: Until I've made it, I can't say anything. I would say that it's completely different. At that time, I had nothing to lose. I was very young, full of spirit, I was discovering the tour and I didn't worry about anything. Compliments were falling like rain, and I thought it was normal. Now it's another story. I wouldn't say that I'm old but I'm twenty-four now. And in a way, I have to go back to square the drawing board. There were some guys like Schuettler or Coria for example who were around #30 and who are now settled in the top 10. They play very well, and they don't fear anything. They're not afraid of me. I am the guy who was absent for one year and who is far away in the ranking. Therefore I will have to work really hard, to achieve many good matches, in order to impose respect again.
Translated by Gwen.
Court Central Magazine January 2004
After an almost sabbatical year, due to a persistent wrist injury, Marat Safin hit back hard at the opening of season 2004. At the beginning of January, during the Hopman Cup in Perth, we saw a far more serious Safin than at the end of last year, when he couldn't win the slightest match in five tournaments. With help from his physical trainer,Walt Landers, the former world #1 worked hard in order to make a fresh start. At the Australian Open, the big names who rose on his way fell one after the other, victims of his new measures. Thus, James Blake, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, amongst others, had to yield, before a fresher Roger Federer put an end to the amazing run by the Russian player. Here, Marat Safin speaks to us, about the hard year he has lived and about his ambitions.
Q: We didn't see you much last year since you were injured for more than six months. How did you spend your time off court?
M: Actually I couldn't do many things, because I was going from doctor to doctor trying to find out what exactly I was suffering from. Therefore I had to ask the opinion of many specialists, before knowing what I had. But by then we had arrived at the end of the season. It was in August, and I didn't really have time to make a decent comeback.
Q: But you played some tournaments at the end of the season, without winning any matches&ldots;..
M: That's right, it was difficult. I was afraid that I would hurt myself. Subconsciously I was afraid that I might worsen my injury. So I played at 50% of my ability, without being in appropriate physical shape, because I was no longer used to playing matches. Then I decided to stop once and for all and to take a holiday. It was the best thing I could do at that time.
Q: Staying away from the tour that way must have been very frustrating...
M: No, I wouldn't say it was a frustrating experience. Because without this, I wouldn't have had the perspective I had then. It was a very good experience which made me aware of some things that I couldn't see by being on the tour. By living on the tour, you're always travelling and you don't have time to take a break and to think a little.
Q: Was there one person in particular who morally helped you during this time?
M: No, not one in particular. But it's important to feel that you have friends who believe in you; people who love you for what you are, and who don't give a damn about knowing if I'm a tennis player or not. Sometimes, they can be good at giving advice. And once again, it makes you think.
Q: Did the thought enable you to see your life as a tennis player differently?
M: Yes, without a doubt. I am sure that many professional players play without really knowing what they are doing and why. They are always travelling and don't have time to think about themselves. It may be good for them, I don't know, but I can tell you that as for me, I did well by stopping and taking time to think. To decide the way I wanted to organize my player lifestyle, my schedule, and what pleased me. I know myself better now.
Q: So you don't think you're able to behave like Pete Sampras who, for years, only thought about tennis twenty-four hours a day ?
M: That's impossible. Sometimes, you have to take a holiday. There is a life apart from tennis, even right in a fast-growing career. That's necessary. You can't live only for tennis. Nobody can. Even Pete, I don't think he lived only for this. But as he was calm, discreet, and didn't go out often, he gave this image of him, which is distorted I think. But he enjoyed life his way. On the other hand, some people like to go gout. Why not? We are young, and we feel like living a little. This is not what will damage our tennis. Not if we can find a balance.
Q: Apart from tennis, what do you like to do?
M: Normal things. Going out with my friends like a normal person. Because you know, I miss my friends when I'm on tour. So I like to meet up with them again. Some friends from Moscow with whom I feel happy. We go out, we go to the cinema. Nothing special, actually. But it's enough for me to be happy.
Q: Are your best friends mostly people you met in Russia before going to the tour?
M: Yes, well there is a variety. I have old friends from school, some other friends from that time, and also new friends. It's part of the evolution of a person. We also develop apart from tennis.
Q: Are you now aware of mistakes you made in the past?
M: That's the same for everybody! When you reach a certain age, you look back in time and you think: "Well, if I were 18 again, I would do this or that in a different way". You mature by making mistakes. At 24, I can criticize my behaviour at 18. But to realize this, I had to experience some things. It's part of life. Everyone progresses at his own rate.
Q: What was your impression when you saw players of your generation such as Ferrero, Federer or Roddick winning Grand Slams in 2003?
M: They deserved it. They had to work very hard to come to that. Look at Roddick who finished the season as world #1: he changed his coach, he revised his way of working, and it proved to be efficient. For me, I was going through a different stage in my life. I wasn't crying every night because Ferrero had won Roland Garros or because Federer had won Wimbledon and the Masters. While they were winning these titles, I was far away from all this. Time will come when I have my chance again.
Q: You have just lost the Australian Open final against Roger Federer. Was it the match too many, at the end of a particularly testing fortnight?
M: Yes, I was a little too tired to withstand his rhythm. To make it, I should have been there from the beginning until the end. And I lacked a little something. I needed a little bit more energy to hold on against him. I had my chance in the first set. If I had been able to make the difference in this set, the story would have been different. I lost one set, he got confident, and it became too hard for me.
Q: But this fortnight will without a doubt give you much confidence for the rest of the season?
M: Yes it's still great for me. I never thought I could reach the final, after what happened last year. I've defeated some very good players and I will have new opportunities to defeat Federer in the future. You know, I'm not going to whip myself because I lost a match against him. He is not a nobody. He is the world #1, sorry for reminding you of this.
Q: What do you think of the arrival of your little sister Dinara on the women tour?
M: My sister is doing well. She makes her way. And I hope she continues in a good direction. Soon, she is eighteen. So she is still young. But soon she has to make decisions herself. She will have to make mistakes to progress. Because when someone else makes decisions for you, you don't think, therefore you don't progress. And she has to progress. Then, she will go far.
Q: Do you give her advice sometimes?
M: No, I don't want to give her any. She has to make mistakes. I'm saying this for her own good. As long as she enjoys playing tennis, I'm happy for her.
Q: What do you think about the strong expansion of good Russian female players?
M: We have a very good school. And there is, not a rivalry, that's not the exact word, but much ambition. They're very ambitious. Kournikova showed them the way, and now the young want to be successful like her. She was a kind of heroine for them. They are numerous on the tour from the same generation as Anna, the generation 1980-81, who, having seen her being successful, have been inspired. And I would say that there are more and more coaches who start to know better what the professional tour requires, because they travel now.
Q: Why are there more good female players than good male players coming from your country?
M: Men, it's another story; a story that I would call a sad one, because they lack ambition. I don't know why... Maybe there aren't enough coaches who understand men's tennis well enough. And to be successful, it's necessary to have skilled people around you to push you in the right direction. Today, it's difficult to find them, and I would say that this is one of the reasons why we have less good male players than female players.
Q: And what about you? Do you think that now you know the game well enough to manage by yourself?
M: Yes, I can manage by myself. I don't need a baby-sitter. I don't need somebody to wake me up at 8 AM and tell me to hit the ball. I've been travelling on the tour for five years now. At the moment I have someone I trust with me, and who is my best friend as well, Denis Golovanov. He knows tennis well, since he was world #140, and he gives me some advice. I regard him as my coach, and he should follow me on the tour this year. You know, it's hard to find a coach who is willing to follow you forty-two weeks a year. Because most of good coaches have a family and they don't want to be away from them so long.
Q: You have employed Walt Landers as a personal trainer and you worked very hard with him in Monaco in December. Does it mean that you will change your way to take tennis up, and take care of your physical condition?
M: No, not really. But I have some problems with my wrist, and some others with both of my ankles. My organism is not the same as before. I'm realizing that I'm getting more and more fragile. As you know, I've already had some problems with my elbow, with my back, and I have to be very careful and to take care of my body. I'm tall, and it means some drawbacks that I have to make up for by paying much attention to my body. So I need many massages, many cares, and to always look for the dangerous points. Walt is very good at this and in addition he trains me physically. It's handy to be helped on all these points by only one person. As a consequence, I don't need to take a whole entourage on tour to take care of me.
Q: Do you think you can reach a superior level than the one you've already reached?
M: Yes, well I don't know. All I can do is try. Of course I want to, and I'm going to do everything to make it. If I don't make it, or if my body doesn't let me make it, never mind. But I can assure you that I will do my best to carry my potential out.
Q: Are your goals for the season to be world #1 again?
M: Yes, of course, everybody wants to be #1. But it doesn't mean that I will make it because it's my purpose. The road is long and there are 365 days in a year. You have to watch that you're consistent in results, that you're focused when you have to be and doing what you have to do, practice and rest when it's necessary. Just do your job well. And when there is an opportunity, you have to grasp it. Sometimes one or two points make the difference in a match. It can change a season, even a career!
Q: Do you think that for you it's harder to reach the top now than a few years ago?
M: Until I've made it, I can't say anything. I would say that it's completely different. At that time, I had nothing to lose. I was very young, full of spirit, I was discovering the tour and I didn't worry about anything. Compliments were falling like rain, and I thought it was normal. Now it's another story. I wouldn't say that I'm old but I'm twenty-four now. And in a way, I have to go back to square the drawing board. There were some guys like Schuettler or Coria for example who were around #30 and who are now settled in the top 10. They play very well, and they don't fear anything. They're not afraid of me. I am the guy who was absent for one year and who is far away in the ranking. Therefore I will have to work really hard, to achieve many good matches, in order to impose respect again.
Translated by Gwen.
