He Breaks Racquets with The best of them. But can Safin finally break through?
02/21/05
By: Tom Tebbutt
The Globe and Mail
The introduction to the Safinator.com site on the World Wide Web ends with a picture of Marat Safin holding a crumpled racquet- one of the many he has decommissioned over the years.
It is self-described as a "fansite for the talented, temperamental and passionat- Russian Marat Safin."
There are a number of options on the site, including "highlighs '04 (w/change of shirt moment for the ladies)."
Safin, the combustible, charismatic and manly Muscovite, is again at the forefront of tennis after his Australian Open victory three weeks ago.
With his sensational win over top seed Roger Federer in the semifinal and his untimately masterful conquering of No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt in the final, Safin notched his second Grand Slam title and finally confirmed the expectations the tennis world had for him after the 2000 US Open, which included a demolishing of Pete Sampras in the title match.
Now that he is playing for the first time since his moment of glory in the Rod Laver Arena on Jan. 20, at the Dubai Duty Free Open this week in the United Arab Emirates (along with Federer), it will be intriguing to see whether a new, more dependable Safin has emerged after his victory in Melbourne.
It was revealing to hear him talk, after beating Hewitt, about how lacking in self-esteem he had been. He gave much of the credit for his win to his coach, Peter Lundgren of Sweden.
"I never believed in myself before at all until I started to work with him," he said of hooking up with the former World No. 25 (1985) last May.
"He makes me believe that I can be a good player. I don't have so many doubts about myself, about my tennis."
With his explosive game and natural flair, Safin, 25 and ranked No. 4, has the potential to become a beloved figure in tennis a la Andre Agassi if he can pile up Grand Slam titles.
But that may be asking too much. Federer's more temperate manner and measures approach is better suited to consistent success on the tour.
It is worth noting that after they played in the 2004 Australian Open final, won by Federer in three sets, the Swiss player went on to play 16 more tournaments in 2004, winning 10 of them and only twice going two events without earning another title.
Safin, on the other hand, played 16 tournaments without a title after the Australian Open. In those events, he reached only one final and one semi-final before finaly breaking through with a victory at the ATP tour stop in Beiging last September.
There followed big-time wins at the fall indoor Masters Series events in Madris and Paris, both with Federer absent because of a left thigh injury.
It would take a major transformation for Safin to begin showing the same reliability as Federer, 23, who rebounded from his disappointment at Melbourne Park by winning his first event since, defeating Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) yesterday in the final of the ATP event in Rotterdam.
Even if he does not become Federer-like in his week-in and week-out performances, Safin will still have lots of fans.
"He's got a strong personality, he's funny, he's cool," his sister Dinara Safina, 18, said earlier this month in Paris, where she won her third WTA tour title. "If I was a tennis fan, I wouldn't get bored with a player who shows his emotions- his joy, his enthusiasm, his anger. People like Marat when he breaks racquets."
Laughing, she continued: "Nobody does it as well as him. It's all part of the show."
A clue to the supremely talented (probably second only to Federer) Safin's future might be found in remarks he once made about becoming as pre-eminent a figure in the game as Sampras.
"I would like to play like him," Safin said, "but I'm not sure because I'd have to work a lot to be like him. To be half of Pete Sampras is enough for me."
By contrast, Federer appears to be eager to be a lot more than that.