Marat Safin celebrated his 24th birthday in style on Tuesday by stunning top seed Andy Roddick 2-6 6-3 7-5 6-7 6-4 in a mammoth Australian Open quarter-final encounter. Safin will now play Andre Agassi after being gifted a walkover when France's Sebastien Grosjean retired injured.
'Grown up' Safin sets sights on world number one ranking
Tue Jan 6,12:53 AM ET
PERTH, Australia (AFP) - Marat Safin is, in his own words, growing old, yet with age comes maturity, and that spells danger for opponents of the powerful Russian, who has set his sights on regaining the world number one ranking in men's tennis by the end of the year.
Currently competing in the Hopman Cup mixed-teams tournament in Perth, Safin outlined just how he planned to haul himself back from his current world ranking of 77.
Unable to compete for five months last year because of a chronic wrist injury, Safin has had time to contemplate his career and his outlook.
"... I had enough time to think about my life - about my professional life - and I put some goals to myself. Try to be more focussed ... and I'm working on that and I'm getting much better," he said.
"So I decided to come in and play, to come back strong and prepare myself, and I really want to be the number one in the world at the end of this year.
"I did everything that's possible to prepare myself, so basically it has to work - it has to go the way I planned.
Safin has always attracted controversy wherever he goes - his unpredictable on-court temperament, the seemingly-endless streams of beautiful women who accompany him almost everywhere.
But the new, more mature Safin, believes it's time to shed at least some of the impetuous trappings of youth.
"I'm getting older. I'm going to be 24, so basically something has to change ... it was my problem. I couldn't really concentrate and I was getting frustrated at some point during the match and I was giving up.
"So I understood ... that it's not the way I should treat myself and suffer on court ... because the match is still going and I should at least try. That's one of my goals for this year."
Safin, who rose to world number one when he smashed Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final, had not been out of the top 50 players since 1997 prior to his injury.
On court in the Hopman Cup against Santoro, who had previously held a 7-1 win-loss record over him, he displayed a calmer-than-usual demeanour, while his big serve and physical fitness were apparent.
"This is my first match and it's difficult to say if I'm going to be great or not, " he said.
"But the way I see things ... I beat him quite easily today even if it was the first match ... so it's quite a lot of confidence for me."
But Safin almost didn't make it to the Hopman Cup - after one of his two passports with his Australian visa was stolen.
Safin called tournament director Paul McNamee to write a letter on his behalf and to help make alternative arrangements.
Marat Safin will play the
Wimbledon - The Lawn Tennis Championship
Place: London, England
Date: June 24 - July 7, 2002
Draw Size: 128
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: UKŁ 4,047,760
Website: www.wimbledon.org
sziasztok:)
megpróbálom felébreszteni ezt a topikot:)
bár ez így nehéz,h maratról semmi hír.nem találtam sehol(még a honlapján sem)semmit,h mikor indul újra vmilyen versenyen:(
remélem azért a közeljövőben lát6ó lesz már vhol:)
És hogy megőrződjön a torna egyik legszebb pillanata::)
Russian tennis player Marat Safin celebrates after beating Spanish player Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Godo tennis open semi-finals, in Barcelona April 26, 2003. Safin defeated Ferrero 6-4 6-3 . REUTERS/Victor Fraile
Ma Carlos volt a jobb,és Marat valami problémával is küszködött a döntőben(tán gyomor-panasz),de végre ott állhatott egy rangos torna díjátadásán,mint runner-up..
Gratula Marat!
Marat Safin halted Juan Carlos Ferrero's winning run by posting a 6-4 6-3 win to set up a final clash with Carlos Moya who overpowered Argentine 16th seed Agustin Calleri 7-6 6-2 on Saturday to at the Barcelona Open.
Nem lesz könnyű meccs, a finn elég jó salakon. Tavaly mintha nyert is volna egy tornát, vagy döntős volt? Nem tudom már.
Zsenya viszont már nem a régi, bár időnként még megvillan.
"... Navarro broke Safin to even the first set at 5-5, but Safin broke back, then saved four break points to win the set. He took the momentum to the second set, winning the first four games.
"The ankle is better," he said. "It's been three weeks since I have played a match It's difficult to come back. You are lacking in confidence and you are scared to move around the court.
"When the match began, I was a little bit too nervous. After the first set, I began to build up my confidence and find my rhythm."
