Post by lau on Dec 20, 2006 20:02:37 GMT 3
original link: english.sport-express.ru/articles/9_70/
MARAT SAFIN: SHUTTING DOWN THE FOES
Stopped one step short of the Kremlin cup by Nikolai Davydenko, Marat Safin raised the stakes for his last tournaments this season (Madrid, Lyon, and Paris), saying he would play to win at least one of the three titles.
Gleb Shatunovsky
from Lyon
Lyon, in the absence of U.S. Andy Roddick and Ivan Lubicic of Croatia, looked like a best chance as there was only one player, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who could realistically challenge him.
He did, defeating Safin in the very first round to the delight of the full stalls of Palas De Sport Gerland. Clearly not the best background for an interview with Safin right after the match – so I decided to drop the subject for a while and start with the Davis Cup finals in which Safin will surely play a key part on December 1-3 as Russia takes on Argentina in Moscow. He faces a very short period of rest, just two or three weeks, and many in the circumstances would be tempted to quit from the national team for the next season to have more time to relax. Most recently, Davydenko complained the quarterfinals against France last April had prevented him from playing well at Roland Garros.
"I did not even think of quitting Russia national team. How conceivably one can play tennis and drop out of the Davis Cup I cannot understand – and it’s the finals we are talking about! I would have given away the entire vacation for it if I had to choose. Let everyone think for themselves. If Nikolai fails to fit the national team into his own schedule – things happen – I don’t think there will be any criticism."
"What matters, however, is that playing for the national team is an honor, not a duty. No one is coerced into playing for the national – certainly not for the want of strong players who can set and achieve targets."
Following a long crisis, Marat has been making a furious comeback into the ATP top league in recent months, reversing write-off speculations and challenging in many opponents outside the court as well as across the net.
"There are many people who would love to watch my downfall. I am neither deaf nor blind; I look through papers, I hear voices that have been burying me alive recently, saying self-righteously - "look at him paying the price for his flamboyant lifestyles, look at his future, total defeat and darkness and nothing else". In fact, hearing that makes me stronger. I just want to see those people shut up."
There have been well-grounded concerns about Marat’s form as he signed up for all late-season tournaments, from Bangkok to Paris.
"This was for good reasons, in large part pragmatic. I may have avoided Metz and maybe some others, but I had to play, having slid too far down the ranking and in bad need for more points. A seed at the Australian Open also was an offer I could not refuse."
"I do not feel as fresh as I could right now, but I knew there would be a price to pay. In any case, I think the comeback to 36th from the second hundred within two months has been worth the effort."
"Fatigue was one of the reasons why I lost this match against Gasquet but there were many others. I was 100% ready but Gasquet was fantastic, so far it’s been his best tennis in this season if I am any judge, so I am satisfied with my play. Referees, I think, also helped him a bit – his matchpoint serve was certainly not an ace, and I might have turned the tables if I had made it deuce. The court was similar to Bercy, relatively hard and slow, just as I like, so it’s a pity I had too little time to adapt to it. At some point, I felt this factor impeded my play."
Safin’s comeback will end only when he feels there is nothing he can achieve – or when there is nothing more to achieve in the sport, he says. L'Equipe recently quoted Safin as saying, “2010 will be the last year in my tennis career.” Now he says he was just fed up with the talk.
"I’d like to go back to Top 10, to fight for highest titles as I feel I am perfectly fit to win Grand Slams. When I feel I am no more capable of setting high targets, I will quit – there is really little sense to stay behind 100th place, locked in the Challenger Series."
"As to that L'Equipe quote, I said that as I was tired of answering such “when are you leaving at last” questions, and said something at a news conference just to close the subject. Seriously, looking too far down the road is not my style, you know what God does to overconfidently supposing people. Four years is a long way to go, maybe I will say enough is enough next year, maybe I will gain form by 2010 to grab titles like nothing. What I can say for sure is that I will stay in the sport as long as I can play equally with the best of the best. I have not yet thought seriously about my future occupation outside tennis though I do have plans and wishes."
Safin already has three Bercy titles and harbors hopes for the fourth one but does not have exact plans for next year’s schedule and coach.
"I could really say – no offense meant – that I like Bercy more than any other tournament: it’s my favorite court, the light is most suitable for me to concentrate on the match, and the audience is very intelligent and interested. I do hope to win here, though I am not seeded, which means I need to avoid the toughest opponents for the first rounds to grease the way."
"My objective no. 1 is to be back into Top 10, and I hope to do that by the beginning of grass season: I haven’t played last January and February so there are no points to defend. As to the next year, I have not drawn a detailed plan so far. Let’s close this year first."
"Coaching is another question mark: Alexander Volkov will stay with me till the end of this season but I don’t know who will take over in the next one. Alexander will be still on my list of options, but then the ball will be on his side: his business is his own, if he wants to stay with me, it’s OK. It is hard to find a coach I could really be happy about. The good news is that I need coaching only in the run-up to the Grand Slams and the Masters. For the rest, I can cope myself."
MARAT SAFIN: SHUTTING DOWN THE FOES
Stopped one step short of the Kremlin cup by Nikolai Davydenko, Marat Safin raised the stakes for his last tournaments this season (Madrid, Lyon, and Paris), saying he would play to win at least one of the three titles.
Gleb Shatunovsky
from Lyon
Lyon, in the absence of U.S. Andy Roddick and Ivan Lubicic of Croatia, looked like a best chance as there was only one player, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who could realistically challenge him.
He did, defeating Safin in the very first round to the delight of the full stalls of Palas De Sport Gerland. Clearly not the best background for an interview with Safin right after the match – so I decided to drop the subject for a while and start with the Davis Cup finals in which Safin will surely play a key part on December 1-3 as Russia takes on Argentina in Moscow. He faces a very short period of rest, just two or three weeks, and many in the circumstances would be tempted to quit from the national team for the next season to have more time to relax. Most recently, Davydenko complained the quarterfinals against France last April had prevented him from playing well at Roland Garros.
"I did not even think of quitting Russia national team. How conceivably one can play tennis and drop out of the Davis Cup I cannot understand – and it’s the finals we are talking about! I would have given away the entire vacation for it if I had to choose. Let everyone think for themselves. If Nikolai fails to fit the national team into his own schedule – things happen – I don’t think there will be any criticism."
"What matters, however, is that playing for the national team is an honor, not a duty. No one is coerced into playing for the national – certainly not for the want of strong players who can set and achieve targets."
Following a long crisis, Marat has been making a furious comeback into the ATP top league in recent months, reversing write-off speculations and challenging in many opponents outside the court as well as across the net.
"There are many people who would love to watch my downfall. I am neither deaf nor blind; I look through papers, I hear voices that have been burying me alive recently, saying self-righteously - "look at him paying the price for his flamboyant lifestyles, look at his future, total defeat and darkness and nothing else". In fact, hearing that makes me stronger. I just want to see those people shut up."
There have been well-grounded concerns about Marat’s form as he signed up for all late-season tournaments, from Bangkok to Paris.
"This was for good reasons, in large part pragmatic. I may have avoided Metz and maybe some others, but I had to play, having slid too far down the ranking and in bad need for more points. A seed at the Australian Open also was an offer I could not refuse."
"I do not feel as fresh as I could right now, but I knew there would be a price to pay. In any case, I think the comeback to 36th from the second hundred within two months has been worth the effort."
"Fatigue was one of the reasons why I lost this match against Gasquet but there were many others. I was 100% ready but Gasquet was fantastic, so far it’s been his best tennis in this season if I am any judge, so I am satisfied with my play. Referees, I think, also helped him a bit – his matchpoint serve was certainly not an ace, and I might have turned the tables if I had made it deuce. The court was similar to Bercy, relatively hard and slow, just as I like, so it’s a pity I had too little time to adapt to it. At some point, I felt this factor impeded my play."
Safin’s comeback will end only when he feels there is nothing he can achieve – or when there is nothing more to achieve in the sport, he says. L'Equipe recently quoted Safin as saying, “2010 will be the last year in my tennis career.” Now he says he was just fed up with the talk.
"I’d like to go back to Top 10, to fight for highest titles as I feel I am perfectly fit to win Grand Slams. When I feel I am no more capable of setting high targets, I will quit – there is really little sense to stay behind 100th place, locked in the Challenger Series."
"As to that L'Equipe quote, I said that as I was tired of answering such “when are you leaving at last” questions, and said something at a news conference just to close the subject. Seriously, looking too far down the road is not my style, you know what God does to overconfidently supposing people. Four years is a long way to go, maybe I will say enough is enough next year, maybe I will gain form by 2010 to grab titles like nothing. What I can say for sure is that I will stay in the sport as long as I can play equally with the best of the best. I have not yet thought seriously about my future occupation outside tennis though I do have plans and wishes."
Safin already has three Bercy titles and harbors hopes for the fourth one but does not have exact plans for next year’s schedule and coach.
"I could really say – no offense meant – that I like Bercy more than any other tournament: it’s my favorite court, the light is most suitable for me to concentrate on the match, and the audience is very intelligent and interested. I do hope to win here, though I am not seeded, which means I need to avoid the toughest opponents for the first rounds to grease the way."
"My objective no. 1 is to be back into Top 10, and I hope to do that by the beginning of grass season: I haven’t played last January and February so there are no points to defend. As to the next year, I have not drawn a detailed plan so far. Let’s close this year first."
"Coaching is another question mark: Alexander Volkov will stay with me till the end of this season but I don’t know who will take over in the next one. Alexander will be still on my list of options, but then the ball will be on his side: his business is his own, if he wants to stay with me, it’s OK. It is hard to find a coach I could really be happy about. The good news is that I need coaching only in the run-up to the Grand Slams and the Masters. For the rest, I can cope myself."
