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Marat Safin, ‘I’m searching. Constantly.’

Marat Safin is a unique person. Even though he lost his high rankings because of a serious injury, the former world number one is still interesting and intriguing for the fans, spectators and tournament management. And at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow this week he is, no doubt, the major star. Safin hates routine and he’s always sincere – sincere in his actions, behaviour, thoughts and words. That’s what Maria Kuznetsova from “Izvestia” had the chance to make sure of.

‘When people have nothing to say, they come up with meddlesome advice’

Q: Let’s start with an unusual question. What were your thinking about when you woke up today?

MS: I guess, I didn’t think about anything at all, because it all goes automatically – practicing, playing. Waking up automatically, then shower, and then a ride to the courts. Boring… (frowning)

Q: Do you make plans then?

MS: I never do, just because they never come true. Especially in here, during the tournament. Every minute of the day is fixed till the very evening. The only thing I can make plans about is where I’m going to have dinner.

Q: It’s annoying, isn’t it?

MS: Not that much, I just don’t like it. I want something new and exciting.

Q: What’s annoying then? What is the thing that gets on your nerves?

MS: It drives me mad, when some people say “Marat, you’re a talented player, but you should practice more. Usually people, who say something like that, know nothing or very little and have no relation to tennis. They have nothing more to say, so they come up with such advice.

Q: And your new coach, Hernán Gumy from Argentina? He comes up with no advice?

MS: You see any career has certain stages – the beginning, the middle and the end. When you’re just starting you should practice more, work on some elements, improve some of them... When you’re 25 it’s hard to change anything. I’m already a mature player, and I need a coach who can understand this. He can force me to do one thing, but at the same time he should let some other things go their own way.

Q: That’s what Gumy is like?

MS: He’s very calm. The point for him is to be this calm while he’s on court and not to make a fuss. Otherwise, you know, I might blow my top off.

Q: Blow your top off? Like doing what?

MS: Well, I might break my racket, or just tell everyone to… Well, you know how our Russian people swear. I bet you’ve heard workers at a construction site?

Q: I have. What else annoys you?

MS: Phone calls. If someone is calling, they want something from you. I don’t like answering, and when I don’t people get offended and angry, ask why I haven’t called them back, what’s up. That’s what annoys me the most.

Q: And your friends? Who are they?

MS: Good question… Almost all of them have some business. But there are also artists. Different people who have been living a long life and who have great experience.

Q: And who is Shamil Tarpischev for you?

MS: Tarpischev? Shama… A genius coach and a man who easily finds a way out of any situation. He reads people perfectly, gets his ideas straight and has enormous experience. He sees people through – he just needs to talk to them for two minutes. I have a great respect for him.

‘I recall my past so as not to walk on air too much’

Q: Comparing your old interviews and the more recent ones, it’s easy to see how much calmer and wiser you’ve become. Do you think much about yourself?

MS: Depends on what you mean by it. Yes, I think about myself, but not in a narcissistic way. (laughing) You see, it’s important not to get too obsessed with yourself and only yourself. But at the same time you should love yourself. If you can’t love yourself, how can you love anyone else? And people, who are close to us, also need our attention badly.

Q: What do you think about your life then?

MS: We all try to foresee what we’ll be doing in 5 years. And we set some goals for ourselves, because it’s very difficult to live without any. First a person aims at entering the university, than take a second degree. Then giving everything to work, to climb the career ladder. Thirdly he is just stuck in traffic jams every day. And then, at 50, he is hit by the realization, that he hasn’t actually done anything with his life. He was fussing, running around, but what for…

Q: And you yourself?

MS: I’m searching. Constantly.

Q: You sound like a philosopher or like a priest.

MS: Nope, I don’t read the Bible.

Q: And what are you reading?

MS: The most recent one was “A Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Q: Never thought that you might like books of this kind.

MS: And what’s wrong about it? It’s kind of boring to read only classics all the time, I just need something different. So you go for the contemporary literature or something philosophical.

Q: What do you consider wealth?

MS: The years I’ve lived. I don’t need too much money, a house in Rublevka (the street in Moscow, where most of the rich and the famous live) or a villa in the French Riviera. Wealth for me is not all these material things, it’s a life experience.

Q: You once said in an interview, ‘I’m lucky, because I’ve got out of poverty’.

MS: That’s not true, I’ve never put it that way. I’ve grown up at VDNH, which is quite a nice district of Moscow. Just the whole situation my family was in was not that great. The four of us were living in the flat of 20 square meters. I know that lots of people had worse conditions, but still. The point is that then I hadn’t had the actual chance of achieving anything serious in tennis. That’s why I’m saying – I’m lucky. A man appeared who gave money for me to go to Spain. It was a big amount of money – $ 300 000. You could imagine what $300 000 meant in 1994, couldn’t you? That was an inconceivable sum of money. So I’m still very grateful to that sponsor.

Q: Do you often go over the past? And what for?

MS: I do sometimes... And what for? In order not to loose the feeling of reality. You start to walk above the clouds, and then there it comes – a recollection from childhood, which immediately brings you back to the ground. For instance I go into the supermarket, where the shelves are full of different yummy things, and recall standing in line to buy some sugar. That’s exactly the moment, you know, when you start appreciating your life of today.

Q: Have these recollections become an extra stimulus for achieving some success?

MS: Of course. Otherwise, who would I have been if I hadn’t got into the tennis elite? Ok, a coach who gets $15 per hour. That might be enough for living, but hardly enough for a family and definitely not enough for buying a flat and a car. And then what? I don’t like this hopeless kind of life.

‘I wear pants that cost me $20’

Q: You’re thought to be one of the most eligible bachelors of the country. How do you choose girls?

MS: Just the same way you choose us. I look at the face and a bit lower.

Q: What do you value in women?

MS: Personality. Character is not a small thing either.

Q: How do you feel about marriage?

MS: I’m positive about it. But only after the children are born. After having been living with someone for 15 years you understand if you really love him or her.

Q: Not earlier? What happens before then?

MS: Love at the very beginning is an illness, a wild and feverous one. Then it transforms into respect, without which two people just can’t live together for long. Or either it does not transform, and to understand this you need time.

Q: Are you fashion-conscious?

MS: Not really. I don’t wear Versace; I don’t have Dolce&Gabbana or Cavalli jeans. I’m not trying to buy things of the latest fashion – I just don’t need that. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. There’s no one to prove anything to, and what for, after all?

Q: But you like to dress up smartly and nicely?

MS: Just have a look. Now I’m wearing jeans that I’ve bought for $20 on sale in the States, white socks that definitely don’t fit the image, shoes that are probably older than myself and a torn T-shirt.

Q: And what about Rolex on your wrist?

MS: (laughing) Ah, this… It’s for free. I’m promoting it.

Q: But you won’t deny your passion for good cars?

MS: No (smiling) I like to be comfortable sitting.

Q: What do you prefer?

MS: I’ve got two right now – Mercedes and Porsche. The first I got as a present, the second – I bought myself.

Q: Well, rather expensive ones…

MS: I’ve told you. One is a present. The second I bought with a huge discount - about 50%, it was sold to me by a friend of mine. You should have rich friends with good cars. (laughing) As Ostap Bender said (the hero of one of the Russian books – The 12 chairs”, and “The Golden Calf”) – a car is not a sign of luxury, but a means of transport.

Maria Kuznetsova

Lena

Sampras to face Safin in exhibition in San Jose
January 31, 2008

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Pete Sampras will face former world No. 1 player Marat Safin in an exhibition during the SAP Open on Feb. 18.

Safin was granted a wild-card entry into the tournament Thursday. He will start his week by playing the exhibition against Sampras in a rematch of the 2000 U.S. Open final won by Safin in straight sets. Safin has won four of his seven career matches against Sampras.

Sampras, who retired after winning his record 14th major singles title at the 2002 U.S. Open, spent the past two summers playing in World Team Tennis events and participated on a limited basis this year on the senior circuit formed by former rival Jim Courier.

Sampras played a series of exhibition matches against Roger Federer late last year, winning the final of the three matches. Sampras will play Federer again at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 10.

Safin will play in San Jose for the second straight year. He lost in the quarterfinals last year to Benjamin Becker of Germany.

zemfira

kuuurcze, chciałabym zobaczyć ten mecz... tęsknię straszliwie z Samprasem.....

nawet może sobie wygrać....
sory Marat.

Lena

Fajny wywiad, który uświadamia nie wiem który już raz że w Safina to zawsze warto Wink

, nawet jak pisocze, marudze, wysyłam na emerytury i w góry wszelakie, to za niego i tak jak w dym, zawsze i wszędzie Very Happy

i jak mówie, że nie to zawsze wychodzi na końcu że i tak jestem na tak (wiem, pogmatwałam xDD ).

miłej lektury Very Happy

(z mtf)

TM: You had a switchback career in general. Were there moments when you worked hard but results didn't follow?
MS: Again, you can't imagine how happy I am to be where I stand now. I don't care whether I'm 80th, 90th, or 150th. I was in the top 10, I was #1, I won 2 grand slam titles, when at the age of 16-17, when my sponsor dumped me, I really thought I'd never have the possibility to hit the tour. Finding money was an emergency, and I was lucky that IMG came to me...

TM: When was that?
MS: In 1997 (2). I even had to borrow money to go to Roland Garros. So when I hear people judging me, I think they'd better keep their opinions for themselves and cut me some slack. And there are a lot of them, especially people in the world of tennis who say "He should have done this or that", and when I hear that I want to be somewhere else. But in fact I don't care. When I look back, I think I've had a great life and an amazing career. I really did all I could do, so why should I regret anything? Trust me, I don't regret a thing.

TM: Tell us more about this moment at the beginning of your career when you had no money to travel.
MS: I was ranked 450th, and my sponsor told me they would provide no more financial help. So I went back to Moscow for 2 months, until that day when IMG offered me to go play the junior tournament in Roland Garros. My mom gave me her last $500 and told me: "Go, and make a good use of them". If she hadn't given me this money to buy the plane ticket, I wouldn't have been to Paris, that's as simple as that. But this, people can't see. They see me on tv and say: "ah, what a life he has this guy! He plays for one hour and a half only, and earns a lot of money". But they don't see how I work all year long, and the hard times I've been through during these last 10 years.

TM: These hard moments you've been through, do they make you appreciate your life on tour even more now?
MS: Of course. A lot of people think it's granted, and that, because you have some talent, it's enough to lead you to the top 10. But that's bullshit. You have to work a lot on court and off court to continue to improve, because the quality of the circuit never stopped to improve in 10 years. And I'm still there. Even when I lose 6 times in a row in the first round, I'm hanging there, I keep on spending hours and hours at the gym. I'm not doing it for money. I'm doing it because I still like tennis and I think I still have my word to say on tour. Right now I'm #38, but with one tournament I can enter the top 20. But even there, people would still find a way to criticize me and say I should have won this or that match, i should have won the 2002 Australian Open. They can take the racket and do it for me if they want to. But professional tennis is difficult, it's not a Playstation game.

TM: Do you enjoy yourself everytime you're on court?
MS: Of course not. You can not enjoy it every day. You can have a bad day because you had an argument with someone, or because you woke up grumpy. We're humans, not machines. Why did Federer lose to Karlovic in Cincinnati, or to Simon in Toronto? There are immediately people who came to the conclusion that he's time is over. No, why would it be over? Maybe the guy just has a bad moment, maybe he has private issues, we don't know. I'm just saying, one can't be at their best every day. It's easy to feel good when everything you try on court succeeds. But the day when you serve badly, when you have a little injury, when you don't 'feel' the ball well... it's different. But you have to hang in there, and wish the next day will be better.

TM: Tell us about Hernan Gumy, with whom you've been working since last year. It seems he brought a lot to your game.
MS: Yes, he's a great coach, very patient. Patience is actually one of his main qualities, because he can meticulously explain to you all the aspects of something you have to improve. The way he details the technique, the movement, the tactics, I appreciate it a lot. He knows tennis very well.

TM: Some coaches are good for some players but not for others. As far as you're concerned, what do you look for in a coach?
MS: He mustn't be a pain in the ass, with military methods. He mustn't tell me that I have to do things this or that way, that I have to be on court all day, etc. No, I want to work, but I also want to enjoy it. Daily routine kills me, and this is something Gumy understands very well, he knows how to vary our work sessions. Some days he's pushing me, and some days he slows down. Each day is different.

TM: Is your aversion for daily routine the reason why you had so many coaches in your career?
MS: Actually I didn't have much coaches. In fact, I had none for several years, and Volkov was sometimes travelling with me, as a friend. Gumy is only the 4th one. 4 coaches in 10 years, that's not many. Argentine and French players change every week! [FONT=Comic Sans MS](:haha: so true)[/FONT] For a long time I couldn't find someone to travel with me, someone who fitted me. Then Lundgren arrived. But because of the pain in my knee, at some point I didn't know if I could continue this career or not, I was suffering too much...

TM: Did you think about quitting?
MS: Yes, in 2006. Even doctors were telling me to stop, cuz it really hurt too much. So I thought I'd play until the end the end of the year, even with the pain, and then if things didn't get better I would quit. But I didn't want Peter (Lundgren) to be jobless if it happened, so I spoke to him frankly, and we decided it would be better for him that we splitted before. Then I started feeling better, and for some time I started travelling again with Volkov, to have a friend by my side. And now, my knee hasn't been hurting for a while. As Volkov couldn't travel any longer, Gumy came to me and I told him we should try workign together, without putting pressure on any of us. And it's working really well.

TM: As you wanted to quit 2 years ago, do you see things in a different way now? Do you think you have a second chance?
MS: It's another time now. I'm not 20 anymore you know. My personality is what it is, it's hard to change it now. I know what I like to do, and I know what I like less, that's it. And now I see things differently. I want to have fun, I don't want to put pressure on me, I don't want to worry for whatever reason. I have goals of course, but my philosophy is different now. I'm more experienced, I want to achieve things, I'm not saying the easy way, but let's say with less stress.

TM: What are the achievements you're the most proud of?
MS: First of all, I'd say winning the Australian Open on my 3rd attempt. Especially after losing the final in 2002. But I'm also proud of having being strong enough to win the US Open, which I really didn't expect. And I should have won Roland Garros in 2003, the year when I lost to Ferrero in the semi-finals. [FONT=Comic Sans MS](hell yeah :awww:)[/FONT] But anyway I managed to reach the semi-finals of all the Grand Slam tournaments, and not many guys did that (3). And the last one I reached at quite an advanced age, which isn't that bad. I also won 5 Masters Series, that's quite a lot in a career, no?

TM: That's true, but you forget a major event, the Davis Cup, that you won twice even. How do you explain that you've always done so well in this competition?
MS: The reason is that we have a great team. We can even make 2 completely different teams, and both would be strong enough to go quite far. And also in our team, we don't put a lot of pressure on each guy. We don't go out for dinner all together every evening, we don't spend all our time all together, we don't organize a gazillion staff meetings to discuss what we'll do the next day. There is no pressure. Youzhny goes out with his friends, Davydenko spends his time with his family, Tursunov goes out with some friends, Andreev with his, so do I. Other teams almost spend all of their time all together. I don't why, maybe because they like it this way. As for us, we organize our time so that we don't feel the pressure. If we want to play football together, we do. In fact, we don't even play doubles together the rest of the year.

TM: But you seem to always find the inspiration to play your best tennis, a lot more than for individual tournaments. Is the feeling that you're playing for your country the main reason?
MS: It's true that it's nice to feel that a whole team is showing support ebhind you. I like the atmosphere of these matches. It makes me feel good. And as I told you, I play with zero pressure, and that's what matters. When you don't feel much pressure, playing is easy.

TM: And you've already told how much you value Shamil Tarpishev, your captain.
MS: Yes, that's true, this guy knows what he's doing, he's smart, he doesn't put useless pressure on you when you're switching courtside, he's not speaking to you for 4 hours to tell you what you shall or shall not do on court. He only gives you one or two pieces of advice, then he helps you calm down a little when you're frustrated, and he cheers you up when you need it, he's doing his job, he's really an excellent captain. I see a lot of big names in tennis who became Davis Cup captains and who don't do 1/10 of the work he's doing. That's a proof you don't need to be a superstar to be a good captain. But that's someone intelligent, who knows to speak to each player in a different manner.[FONT=Comic Sans MS](heard that, Forget? Razz

)[/FONT]

TM: Are you disappointed that you didn't take part in the Olympic Games in Beijing?
MS: Not really. I never played well at Olympic Games. I could have asked for a WC and I think I could have easily got one. But first of all Beijing is really far, and then the year schedule is really bad. Especially as we're going to Argentina for Davis Cup in September. No, really, the schedule was really badly made this year. Not only this year actually. Look after Bercy for example, we have one week off and then it's Shanghai (the Masters), then another week off, and then the final of Davis Cup. So, if we reach the final of Davis Cup, we have no time to rest. Common sense would have been to schedule the Davis Cup final the week after Shanghai. But now there are 3 weeks between Bercy and the Davis Cup final, then 4 weeks before the beginning of the next season. So we can't go on vacations, and our schedule really is tough. ATP should care about the problem because the way it is now isn't working.

TM: You attended the Olympic Games twice, and didn't have good results (4). Do you think the Olympics are as important as Grand Slam tournaments though, like some champions likes Federer said?
MS: To each his opinion. Look, Roddick didn't go there, neither did Fish... Of course it's great to play for Russia, but for us tennis players the top tournaments are the Grand Slam tournaments. Sure, it's an honor to play the Olympics, there's some atmosphere, but our priority remains the 4 Grand Slam tournaments, and it'll always be this way.

TM: Apart from the not so good results you had there, what do you remember of your 2 participations?
MS: Sydney was nice, but in Athens the organization wasn't good to be honest. I was expecting much better. The food wasn't very good, balls were horrible. It depressed me a little.

TM: Do you enjoy watching other sports?
MS: No, I don't follow any sport. Really none.

TM: So let's go back to Wimbledon, where Federer beat you in the semi-finals. Did you watch the final then?
MS: No. I don't like watching matches. I'm not really interested.

TM: Oh so you missed a historical final...
MS: Yeah, yeah, sure, that was a great final, but I wasn't tempted to watch it...

TM: What do you think of these 2 huge champions Federer and Nadal are?
MS: For sure they have something more than other players. Nadal is unbelievably athletic. He's fast. He gives you the feeling his hand movement isn't too good, but in fact his hand is exceptional. He's still improving, and he can play on all surfaces. As for Federer, he's got an amazing technique, and he moves perfectly. He can do everything with a ball, and that's what makes him so good to watch playing.

TM: You've been #1. What do you think when you see for how many weeks in a row Federer remained #1?
MS: He's at another level comparing to the other guys on tour. No doubt about this. To remain #1 for 4 years, and with such a gap with the other guys, is unbelievable. You really have to be special to achieve this. Because a lot of guys have been #1 at some point. Kafelnikov, Rafter, Hewitt, Moya or Kuerten all reached the #1 spot. But someone like Federer, we had never seen that. He has so many more options than other players, on his forehand, on his backhand, on serve... He sees the ball earlier than the others. He really deserved being on top for 4 years. He deserves to win a few more Grand Slam titles. We'll see if Nadal allows him to.

TM: Do you think he will?
MS: I have some doubts, but you never know. These last weeks he didn't play too well, but we don't know how he'll react. On the other side, Nadal is playing very well, Djokovic is hungry, Murray is doing miracles, he won Cincinnati for instance. It will be difficult then, for both of them. Because other players are hungry and want to beat them. Nowadays the guys give everything they have against him. Guys like Simon or Karlovic for instance, and it can make things complicated for him. But I still have faith in him. He can still bounce.

TM: How did you feel when you became #1?
MS: I didn't have the time to enjoy it. I injured myself not long after it. And because of the ATP stupid rules I couldn't stay #1 for too long. I injured myself in Dubai, and I was seeded #1 in Indian Wells and Miami so I had to play whatever it'd cost me, or my bonus would have been reduced to the minimum. And we're talking about a million and a half dollars here. For a 20 year old guy who is just starting to earn big amounts of money, that's quite a big sum. The rule said that for each Masters Series we didn't play at, we lost 30% of our bonus. So I played even if I had torn an intercostal muscle and I couldn't serve, and slipped to the 13th rank within only 5 months. So some would tell me "yeah but you should have stopped for a few weeks even though that would have cost you $1,5 million". That's easy to say, I wish I had seen these people make that choice for themselves. But I think I made the right choice, and after that it wasn't easy to come back. But I came back nonetheless, reached the #3 spot which isn't that bad, but in the meantime it cost me 5 months before I started feeling better.

TM: Let's talk about your sister Dinara, who reahed the final of Roland Garros. It must have been touching for you, even though you weren't there.
MS: She deserved it. She had a tough period at the beginning of the year, she lost in the first round of the Australian Open. Then she took the right decisions, which isn't an easy thing to do for a 22 year old girl. She stopped working with Heinz Günthardt and chose to travel with Zeljko Krajan, and it seems it is working since she lost only 2 matches in 5 months. She has so much confidence. I'm really, really happy for her, especially after the personal issues she had 2 years ago. Now she's one of the hottest players on the women's tour.

TM: Are you close?
MS: (hesitating) Yeah, I guess. Like a brother and a sister can be. We don't talk everyday but that's normal. She can text me one day and then not send me anything for 2 weeks. Right now for instance, I know she just won and that's great. I'm happy for her. And maybe she won't text me until I see her in New York, and that's fine, for her and for me.

TM: Did you think about going to Paris to support her?
MS: No, not really. She was playing well, I thought I'd better watch the final on tv, and not make a big fuss which would have put pressure on her. I would have been in the player's box, and they would have showed images of me on Eurosport and say "here, the brother is there with the whole family" which would have blow it up out of all proportion. No, she was doing a great job, and she had people around her to cheer her up, the mother, the father, the coach. It was enough, I'm cool with that, and so is she.

TM: You'll play the Hopman Cup together next January. That'll be a first.
MS: Yes, it'll be nice. We'll play mixed doubles together for the first time, and I think we'll have a great time. Very Happy

TM: To conclude, how would you describe the man Marat Safin?
MS: Very tough character. Very stubborn. Impatient, in the good and the wrong sense... Maybe because I tend to be too much of a perfectionist and sometimes I'm too harsh with myself. But I think it helped my career. I have qualities and I have failings. Being impatient and being stubborn means that when I really want something, I'll have it no matter what. If I don't want to practice, I won't. If I have to be somewhere, I'll make sure I'm there if I'm convinced that it's important. And if I want something, I want it now. Not tomorrow, now. If I want a car, I want it now. If I want an apartment, same thing. I hate to wait. Sometimes on court impatience can be bad for you, but it can also help you to reach your goals.

--------------------------------------------------------
(1) Hernan Gumy is a former Argentine player who reached the 39th rank in the world in 1997. He's the coach of several players like Guillermo Cañas, Guillermo Coria, and for a short time of Gustavo Kuerten.
(2) That year, at the age of 17, Marat lost in the first round of the junior tournament against Brazilian player Alexandre Simoni.
(3) Other guys still playing who reached the semi-finals of all Grand slam tournaments are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and David Nalbandian.
(4) He lost in first round in 2000 against Fabrice Santoro, and in second round in 2004 against Feliciano Lopez.

Lena

Tym razem wywiad mamy Rausy Wink

Q: Raisa, congratulations on a double trophy, because not only you got a trophy of the best tennis coach of Russia 2008, but Dinara got one too. What are you feeling right now?

A: Joy & pride, because my hard work, my attention & my love were not wasted. All parents are trying to give their children the best, but sometimes results don’t come. Thank god, my children achieved a lot.

Q: What did Dinara feel when she was congratulated?

A: She said the right words, that her mom & dad were with her. There many moments when she couldn’t do what she was capable of. But I always told her – patience..And now, I tell her: Dinara, you became #3 in a world, it will be harder. Be patient, you have a lot of work ahead. If you have patience, you will achieve more, if not – that’s it. And, discipline is very important. It can’t be any other way..

Q: You children, Marat & Dinara – are very sincere people. Does that hurt them in such a tough sport as tennis?

A: No, they, like the rest of our family, don’t like fake. In our house we are always honest & sincere. I don’t like fake people or fake things. Sometimes, my children want more attention, more pretty words..But I call things as I see them..

Q: Dinara has been through a lot to reach the top. Why do you think it happened this season?

A: There were a lot of coaches that put her down. She is our child, and we always supported her. Each player is an individual, and I tried to bring her best qualities. Some coaches “destroyed” her, and she could not deal with that. Now she has a coach that understands her & who showed her what she can do, that she is a Player

Q: Did you ever want to interfere when you child was not treated right, and show that you know better what to do & how to do it?

A: Of course, I helped both Marat & Dinara as a coach, but sometimes, I wanted to be their mom. That’s why those tears, and heads down…Only a parent can feel that, not a coach. In those moments, it was important to be a support for them. When they understood, I was showing my coaching skills.

Q: Your children often say that they congratulate each other one their victories, support each other. Are they really that close & worry so much about each other?

A: It runs in a family. I fight for my children like a hawk, and they do the same for each other. They have their own love for each other, and understanding…Their love - is probably mine & my husband’s love for each other. Their love means a lot.

Q: Many fans of your son can’t wait to see “old” Marat on court..

A: You know, it’s hard to get back that “old” level of play. Like everyone says, he has a talent, but he needs motivation. He doesn’t have motivation. He wants something else, to do something in another area. Maybe, like his dad – businessman. He has done everything for tennis. Now it’s hard to show something in tennis at his age. And he, probably, open the road for Dinara. She was a bit in his shadow. Now he moved a little, and gave a chance for her talent to open up.

Q: Is working with Gumy helping Marat?

A: Gumy is a very good psychologist. He understands that a player is hard to handle (deal with) at that age.
I don’t know, maybe it will work out in a future. But, it’s hard for Marat & it is harder for me – that if he stops playing…I understand that it is hard for him to show good results, and be somewhere in a back (meaning ranking) is hard for him as well. Also, because he is always asked questions about Dinara. He, probably, doesn’t take it very well, and it is better for him to find himself in another area, and open the way for Dinara. And, he will be a great adviser & help for her.

Q: Many people say that Marat is a team player, and say that he plays well in doubles. Maybe he should continue playing as a double player?

A: No, it’s not for him, he is not a double player, he was just helping. Yes, he played well, but he’s got enough talent to open himself up in another area. I used to tell him: “Tennis is a jump board for your flight”. Maybe in another area he can show something.

Q: Looking back, do you think Marat had a good career?

A: Who was thinking about that at 12 when I sent him to Spain…And who was thinking about that at 13 & 14?
Nobody. So, now I think that he achieved the maximum he could. Let others prove the rest, if they think it is not enough for Marat…

Lena

Piecia przemówił Mr. Green

TP Tour - Q&A: Peter Lundgren

Eurosport - Mon, 22 Dec 13:26:00 2008

EXCLUSIVE! Peter Lundgren has spoken to Eurosport Yahoo! about his decision to quit coaching on the ATP Tour and about Marat Safin's retirement plans.

Lundgren coached world number two Roger Federer for three years before a short stint as the British Davis Cup coach was cut short in 2008 when his father fell ill.

He has since coached former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis and is now set to join the staff at a tennis academy in Paris in the New Year.

Q: Why did you decide to join the staff at a tennis academy?

A: I'm tired of working with just one player at a time. I'll start work (at the academy) in January and my ambition is to find young, interesting players for the future. My first task will be to go to Australia in January and check some names out.

Q: But why quit coaching on the ATP Tour?

A: I've had lots of offers but I don't want to work with just one player anymore. I'm not saying I will never go back to the Tour but I need some stability in my life and they offered me a three year contract so I took it. As a coach you're very vulnerable and totally in the in the hands of your player. There is no security and I've grown tired of that. I need something else now I've got a family to take care of. You read about coaches getting fired almost every day. The players hire a coach in order to have someone who can yell at them now and then, but when you're in the middle of it and try to encourage your player to work harder you risk getting the boot.

Q: Your former charge Marat Safin has announced he will continue to play next year despite speculation that he would retire. What do you think about that?

A: I think he has made the right decision. Marat is still a world class player who has a lot more to give. The Tour needs him in more than one way. His personality is rare in a very positive way and on the court he can be a true artist if he is in a good mood. And it can be a disaster If he is in a bad mood. Nobody knows how to judge Marat Safin in advance. That's the beauty of him. It would have been sad if he had quit playing now. I'm happy he is still around.

Q: Do you still talk to him?

A: Every week. I talked to him the other day and told him that he should concentrate on playing the tournaments that he really likes and be more selective over the next year. I like him very much as a person, he's a great guy.

Q: No plans to work together again?

A: No such plans.

Q: Do you think Safin will stop after next season?

A: You never know with this man. But he is very much a player who relies on his motivation and if he doesn't feel like it, he will stop playing. If you ask me I think yes, next season will be his last.

Kati

Hmmm... ja też zawsze mówiłam, że Marat będzie grał do trzydziestki, ale im bliżej tej trzydziestki, tym bardziej mnie serducho ściska... Ehhh...

Karolka

Wiedziałyśmy, że to w końcu nastąpi... szkoda tylko, że aż tak szybko Confused

Lena

Marat Safin.

Right from the word go, that name has attracted flocks of people to tennis tournaments.

From his on-court antics of smashing racquets and yelling at umpires and line judges, to his often bitter demeanor off-court, Safin is a man the world may never fully understand.

When he won the first of his Grand Slams at the U.S Open in 2000, he looked poised to take many more, to challenge at the top of men's tennis for some considerable time.

He certainly had the talent; there were few who could hit the ball more cleanly and precisely, or who had more variety to their games.

Yet, he waited five years for the second of his only two Slams, an Australian Open victory in 2005.

There are any number of excuses for Safin's fall from grace.

He struggled with injuries, a man named Roger Federer began to dominate the game. Perhaps Safin just didn't cope very well with the pressure.

Whatever the reason, I doubt there are many who, nine years ago, could have predicted Safin would end up with just two Grand Slam titles to his name.

He has had ups and downs all through his career, mostly due to injuries and a struggle to find his form. But to this day, Safin remains full of surprises.

In 2008, he seemed to be at the tail-end of his career. He was turning in few good matches anymore, and seemed to be struggling with motivation.

And then, bam! Out of nowhere, it seemed, a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon!

His route to the semis was somewhat illustrious—he took out Novak Djokovic in the second round, Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth, and Feliciano Lopez in the quarterfinals.

Inevitably, he was ousted by Federer, which is nothing any player can be ashamed of.

Playing against the very talented Gael Monfils in Miami this year, Safin came within a point or so of beating the Frenchman several times.

He served for the match not once, but twice in the third set, and actually held two match points on Monfils' own serve.

My point? The man still has some of the sparkle that once caused Pete Sampras to praise him as "the future of tennis".

Safin's career has been by no means ideal, plagued by various injuries and loss of form—He himself said he would "prefer to have the career of Roger Federer". (Who wouldn't?)

But still, he's been hugely successful, winning two Grand Slams, appearing in five Masters Series, and gathering an immense fan base.

With Safin's impending retirement, we have to wonder who will fill the hole he will leave?

Every sport needs its resident bad-boy, and Safin certainly took that role to heart. (ładne to Wink

)

Marat, you will be sorely missed—by all.

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

s.

tu taki urywek z naszego polsko-deblowego bloga od marcina i mariusza ;D

"Dzień później w szatni Ivan Ljubicic opowiedział nam, że sparodiował Marata Safina jako łamacza damskich serc w taki sposób że ten pół roku się do niego nie odzywał. Trzeba mieć do własnej osoby pewien dystans i nie brać wszystkiego dosłownie."

Shocked

pol roku?oj chlopak rzeczywiscie dystansu do siebie nie ma. Shocked

ja na jego miejscu bym sie przyzwyczaila.

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Kati

Hi hi hi! Trafił widać w baaaaaardzo czuły punkt! Laughing

No ale pół roku focha - jak nie Marat!!! Przecież on zawsze miał (moim zdaniem) dystans do siebie, i do tego, co się dzieje wokół.

s.

moze wtedy na players party zabral jakas wazna panne jak ta zobaczyla Ljube i jego wyglupy zrobila lipe maratowi a ten fochnal na Ljube Very Happy

oj tam.chlopak potwierdzil to co kazdy wie,wiec ja nie wiem na co sie tu obrazac? Rolling Eyes

Lena

Hi hi hi - sfochowany lover boy xDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
o bo skonam Mr. Green

Lena

Młoda lekko zagrzmiała na brata xDD i dobrze Mr. Green

Play well or quit, Safina tells Marat !

Marat Safin should put his whole heart into playing tennis or quit, his top-ranked sister Dinara Safina advised.

Former world number one Safin has failed to win back-to-back matches in nine of his last 10 tournaments, often perishing despite being in a winning position.

The 29-year-old was knocked out of last week's Rome Masters in the first round by Tommy Robredo after throwing away a 6-2 4-1 lead and Safina suggested her brother should hang up his rackets immediately if he is unable to turn around his form.

"He knows he's going to retire (at the end of) this year, so it's tough," Safina said in Rome.

"I would say that if you want to retire, either you do it or you play.

"He doesn't. So he should make a decision if he wants to play or if he wants to retire.

"He was supposed to (have) already retired last year and he's still going. He's a little bit unpredictable."

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

___________________________________________________________

Ja tam sie zgadzam z Diną, dziewcze doskonale wie co mów. No bo Maracie albo w te albo nazad - bo na serio nie da sie już więcej oglądać takich wtop jak te trzy ostatnie, jeden wygrany mecz można gdzieś tam darować ale trzy tak wpuszczone w kanał to o całe trzy za dużo !
Zasadniczo konkluzja jest taka, że albo wkłada te odrobine sreca którą to choć w minimalny spoób wkładał przez całą kariere i sie stara albo prestaje sie motać i odchodzi natychmiast. Bo ja na serio chce zapamiętać Safina jako super tenisiste i fajter a nie jak gule jajo, bo ani on ani ja sobie na taką pamięc nie zasłużyliśmy (jak i pozostali jego kibice).

aniqua

by Bill Simons at Inside Tennis

We blew it.

No question about it.

Call it neglect or indulgence, or simple short-sightedness — whatever. But tennis is facing a crisis. All our great characters — those bigger-than-life entertainers who captured our imagination with far more than forehand winners are now an endangered species.

Right there — on the dreadful edge of extinction — is perched that unique sub-species of humanity, those let-er-rip tennis players in the tradition of Ilie Nastase, Vitas Gerulaitis, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Yannick Noah and Goran Ivanisevic, great personalities who continually brought sass ‘n sizzle to stuffy ol’ tennis; fellows who insisted that life was just too short to be reigned in by dreary rulebooks, bothersome code penalties, snooty suits in flawless blazers or, God forbid, the game’s longstanding ethos/post-Victorian propriety — “Well-played, lad. Well-played.”

Now we will be left to stare into a certain gray monotone, the humdrum of reality. The last of the great characters, Marat Safin, is fading in the dusk, on the dreary cusp of retirement.

Whether winning when he wasn’t supposed to (the ‘00 U.S. Open against Sampras) or losing when he should have won (the ‘02 Aussie Open final against Thomas Johansson) — Safin was always good value. Who else could confide about a match: “I was trying to give up, but I couldn’t.” Only Safin could give us possibly the best existential take on confidence in the history of sport. “Confidence is like love,” he informed us. “When you look too hard, you don’t find it. When you let it come naturally, it happens.” Of one loss to a journeyman, he said, “I didn’t like playing today. I am not a morning person.” He was once fined for not trying.

Like Nastase, Safin had a penchant for mooning linespersons (just ask those red-faced French Open officials). Like Gerulaitus, he liked the ladies. His Friends Box (often crowded with the curviest of young lasses in high stilettos and low cut frocks) was a gawker’s delight. Like Noah, he could be the life of the party. Like Connors, he saw the game as entertainment. He had a droll sense of humor, like Ivanisevic, that reduced cynical writers to belly laughs. And as with Mac, he felt it his sworn duty to crush rackets: he smashed an unofficial record of 48 in ‘99 and heartily defended his swath of mass destruction by playing his chi or shakti card. “I’m not a complete nutcase,” he argued. “Sometimes breaking a racket…let’s out the bad energy and then you get calmer.”

Sunken eyes, somber woe-is-me voice, brooding and put upon ‘tude, for Safin our world was both a whimsical farce and a cautionary domain — unfair and imposing.

Yes, his game was erratic and his career arc wobbly. After he shocked Sampras to win the ‘00 U.S. Open, conventional wisdom insisted he would soon be The Next Great One. But little did we know this was Marat Safin. Soon his career was stalled by a string of injuries and a less-than-intense work ethic. Yes, he won one of the most well played matches of the decade, a classic five-set victory over Federer in the ‘05 Aussie Open semis, and went on to ruin the dream of Lleyton Hewitt, the seemingly unconquerable local hero.

But all the while he was consistent in launching controversial opinions. Here was an equal opportunity abuser.

Of the U.S. Open he said, “There are constant transport problems…The food is unbearable. You get dried pizza, which has been lying around for about five hours, coffee is black water. And after September 11, the police have become animalistic — they are everywhere, questioning you…If you say something wrong you will be taken to police headquarters. You’re forced to take shoes off at the airport…This makes me mad.”

Not that he was a Wimbledon cheerleader. While many adore the First Church of Tennis, Marat complained, “You have to wear white, be nice and polite to people.” And then there was his infamous spaghetti rant: “I do not like this tournament. We get 20 pounds for lunch. I have a coach and a masseuse, and one portion of the most uneatable spaghetti costs 12 pounds. A portion of tasteless strawberries with cream from a sachet costs five pounds, coffee, another five. The rest of the food is horrible-fish and chips…What’s really unappealing is disrespect. How can you give such a treatment to people?”

Perhaps, not surprisingly, Safin had a resonance with the people of France. There, claimed writer Andrew Parker, it wasn’t hard to “see why the Parisians were so keen on him. He shares many of their qualities, being mercurial, grumpy, dramatic and occasionally prone to staying out late. Added to which, he’s named for a hero of the French Revolution, Jean-Paul Marat.”

Historians will inform you that Jean-Paul Marat was famous for his impassioned protestations. And so was Marat Safin. His basic take on tennis was simple. It had suffered dearly from the triumph of the control freaks. “All the people who run the sport have no clue,” asserted Safin. “It’s a pity that tennis is going down the drain…You’re not allowed to do this, you’re not allowed to do that. You’re not allowed to speak…It’s just ridiculous…Every year it gets worse.”

But mighty Marat — no matter how dishwater-dull tennis may have become, it’s still a game of results and the erratic results of a former No. 1 (who both heroically led his nation to Davis Cup triumph over France in ‘02 and Argentina in ‘06 saw his ranking dip to No. 104 in ‘06 and lost to the virtually unknown Jesse Levine in the first round this year at Wimbledon) drew a wide range of overly simple or perhaps far too complex analyses.

Marat himself was fond of accessing his losses by simply stating the obvious. “Whatever I did was wrong,” he would proclaim. And his sister, Dinara Safina — the ‘I-too-can-brood’ world No. 1 (who in some ways is a less intense, less flamboyant female version of her older brother), famously quipped, that whatever Marat has done, she wants to do the opposite.

But others were prone to impose nuanced complexities on his game and why he fell short. For instance, of Safin’s two-fisted backhand, John Jeremiah Sullivan wrote: “He pounds to a stop at the last second and performs the daintiest little touch-drop volley. The effect of this maneuver is a bit like seeing a pterodactyl that was flying straight at you suddenly shift into a moth and flutter away.”

To Sullivan, “Safin’s relationship to the game is fundamentally aesthetic…What he cares about most is playing beautiful tennis, which for Safin means playing perfectly. That he occasionally achieved this is sort of cruel…[his incredible play at] the U.S. Open final against Sampras in 2000 had hurt…Every time he stepped on a court he expected to play that way.”

Many observers simply dismissed Safin as an underachiever. Unlike the greats — Roger, Rafa, Pete, Andre and Lendl — Marat only had indifferent ambitions and squandered his abundant talents. Life was just too alluring. Yes, his mother was a severe tennis taskmaster, Russia’s answer to Gloria Connors - with a tennis academy. But Safin was just not the type to buy into the sometimes soul-deadening lockstep of fierce conditioning and laser-like focus that produces that most rare of diamonds - the dominant champion.

Of course, Safin adeptly spun how he lost the cruelest battle in sports — the game of expectations. He didn’t hesitate to remind critics of his many injuries, especially his knee, and how for years he played in pain. Then he would follow up with a disarming theory. “You know what,” he contended. “In the history of tennis, everybody’s an underachiever — every single player. Agassi should have been winning, I don’t know, 15 Grand Slams. Sampras should have been winning 20. Federer should have 25. [Marcello] Rios at least five…It’s like everybody’s underachiever. Everybody could do better.”

But now it’s clear. There is no one on the scene now who can step up with personality, originality and charm to fill the critical role of “tennis character” as Marat has done for many a season. The Mighty Federer is Swiss-contained, a smoothly run brand. Rafa is way beyond polite. Murray is a sober, sometimes sullen Scot. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils are French works in progress. Yes, Roddick has a wicked, frat-boy humor, but now he’s a married man deep into his career whose wild and crazy side is primarily in evidence in the locker room and his pressroom zingers don’t really translate into some sort of broadly defined rebel, comic or character. As for Novak Djokovic, the once hilarious mime, with his spot-on imitations, was a spontaneous delight before certain of his fellow players, with their penchant for control and propriety, bristled no way and he reigned himself in.

Yannick Noah once said players each have their own roles: the clown, the rebel, the robot. And with Safin’s pending retirement we mourn the departure of what may be the game’s last true character: moody Marat with his lovely ladies, predictable protests and sky-is-falling mindset; a Russian soul minted in Moscow’s deep winter angst and shaped by the high intensity spotlight of international sport, the high-life joys of metro discos and the ‘Melbourne today, Monte Carlo tomorrow’ jet set ethos; a big appealing charmer who simultaneously cherished fun and perfected the craft of compulsive complaint.

Yet, in the end, even morose Marat conceded, “I can’t complain, I’ve managed to do pretty well in my career.” After all, he admitted, “tennis saved me from a life of picking up bottles in Moscow.”