| ..:: ARTICLES ::.. | Safin concentrates on more work, less play
Wed Apr 21, 2004
MONACO (AFP)
Safin, who reached number one in the world and won the US Open in 2000, is widely regarded as one of tennis' great unfulfilled talents with many believing the 24-year-old should have more than just the one Grand Slam title to his name.
"I have to separate the business from the pleasure. For the next few months, I choose business and to work hard. After Wimbledon (news - web sites), I will take a few weeks off and enjoy it," said the Russian after brushing aside Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters here on Wednesday.
"Sometimes you can have too much pleasure and you get to the stage where you need to take a rest."
Safin, however, refuses to make excuses for his lifestyle, firmly believing that there is more to life than tennis.
"For people it is a miracle whenever we are talking about life. It seems there is only tennis and there is nothing else outside the courts. But it's not like this. "Everybody enjoys doing other things rather than tennis. I know, I had one year of vacation and I could do whatever I wanted to like any normal guy of 23 or 24," added Safin who missed large chunks of last year because of a wrist injury which limited him to just 13 tournaments as he slipped outside the top 50 for the first time since 1997.
This year, he is back to 25 in the world after reaching the final of the Australian Open (news - web sites) and hammering home his clay court ability by finishing as runner-up in Estoril last weekend.
"It's very annoying when people come up to you and try to explain: 'You should be calmer, you should better.' "But these people are losers because they don't know how much time, how much dedication, how much it takes to be where I am right now. "At the end of the day, I will be who I will be and I will win as much as I can win.
"People come to me and say: 'You should have won five Grand Slams by now.' Sorry, but for some reason I couldn't. I wish I had but it doesn't work that way. "Sometimes you are playing against yourself. Sometimes you have to fight yourself. It's difficult to push sometimes, sometimes you are scared, you are choking, not feeling confident."
Safin, whose next task here is a third round clash against Australia's Wayne Arthurs, insists his new regime should stand him in good stead ahead of the French Open where he was a semi-finalist the last time he played there in 2002.
"I just want to keep it cool, go match by match. I have long months ahead of me, long tournaments. If I get too excited right now, maybe I will be burned out by the time of the French Open."
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