| ..:: ARTICLES ::.. | Safin's rollercoaster ride
Hamburn 05-13-2004
The Russian was angry about the balls being used, alleging that the ATP did not care and that it was ignoring complaints.
The temperamental 24-year-old also suggested he might pull out of the French Open, starting in ten days time.
"The courts are soft which give a lot of bad bounces (in Hamburg), but it's also the balls we are playing with. They are ridiculous," claimed Safin who was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Jurgen Melzer, the world number 68 from Austria.
"Everyone is complaining and the ATP doesn't do anything to change them. I spoke to many players who think the same and it seems like the ATP doesn't care.
"For players who have a big serve, you can't play. All of a sudden the ball is going straight to the fence and you have no confidence in your shots. You start to play a bit slower. Everything goes out and you don't enjoy it.
"Players are complaining to the ATP, but they don't do anything about it. They just find a thousand excuses. They just say we are wrong.
Other players also complained
"The quality of the sport is important but it seems the ATP don't care about it. They say also that I am not allowed to speak this way, but the balls are not very good.
"It's not important who is complaining or that I lost today (Thursday): other players are complaining about the balls. About 99 percent of the top 50 are not happy with the balls because they can't feel them.
"If you go to the ATP they will find a thousand reasons and you will be the bad guy because you come and complain. I can't feel the balls and I have to run around the court and completely change my game.
"There is something wrong with the structure of the ball, with the air in the ball. They are like stones.
"The money that the ATP is getting - I don't know what the deal is, but the balls are not properly made. We are not asking for millions we are just asking for (good) conditions to play in."
When asked what he planned to do next, Safin said he would go home to Monte Carlo and practice, but that he might pull out of Paris, even though a different brand of ball will be used there.
"I am not motivated at all right now," he insisted. "These kind of matches and this kind of tennis makes me not want to fight.
"If I don't feel like going to the French Open at the last moment then I won't go. To struggle and be a loser - I am not this kind of guy. If I am going to go I want to go there big time.
"I want to start winning. If I am going to be there I want to be good. If I don't feel that, then I won't go. It's a nightmare."
Melzer Mania: Jurgen Stops Safin In Hamburg
By Alberto Amalfi
05/13/2004
Alarmed by the early start time of the match, Marat Safin struggled to shake the slumber from his shots and stalked around the court like a man searching for a jolt of caffeine before an early-morning commute. Jurgen Melzer needed no such wake-up call.
Dancing eagerly on his toes throughout the match, the 22-year-old Melzer bounced Safin out of the Tennis Masters Series-Hamburg tournament today with a convincing 6-4, 6-4 victory to advance to his first career Masters Series quarterfinal.
Competing against accomplished players continues to bring out the best in Melzer.
The 68th-ranked Austrian has scored five of his 10 victories this season against current or former top 15 players including: Thomas Enqvist, Todd Martin, Tim Henman, Nicolas Massu and Safin.
Melzer, who was winless in the 2003 European clay-court season, has not dropped a set in dismissing Nicolas Massu, Irakli Labadze and Safin in succession to set up a quarterfinal clash with either 17th-seeded Lleyton Hewitt or Brazil's Flavio Saretta.
Showing the all-court skills and daring shot sense that make him an exciting player to watch, Melzer cracked a forehand winner to break Safin's serve and seize the first set. The Austrian's ability to alternate penetrating ground strokes off both sides and advance to the net to punctuate points with his favorite shot — the drop shot — prevented a cranky Safin from sustaining any sort of rhythm.
It was a similar performance in a 7-5, 7-6 quarterfinal setback to Andy Roddick in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships that prompted Roddick's coach, Brad Gilbert, to proclaim Melzer as a top-25 talent.
"This guy's game really impressed me," Gilbert said of Melzer. "If he’s not in the top 25 within a year I’d be surprised. He’s got a bone crushing crosscourt two-handed backhand that looks a like a hockey player hitting a slap shot. Plus the guy has the touch of a lefty. He was hitting deft drop shots all night long."
Seldom hitting the same spin in succession, Melzer coaxed the former two-time Hamburg finalist into so many errors, Safin was reduced to questioning the content of the balls by the end of the match.
"You hit the ball twice the same way and it reacts totally differently the second time," Safin said. "You lose confidence in your shots and you have to change your game totally. There's something wrong about that ball's structure. I'm not the only one saying it but the ATP people don't care.""
The temperamental titan was in no mood for tennis today and Melzer's play prolonged his sullen streak.
"I didn't feel like playing tennis today," Safin said. "The game was early, the conditions were not good, the court was slow and bouncy and the balls were awful."
In the eighth game of the second set, a thoroughly frustrated Safin surrendered serve then slammed his racquet in disgust earning a racquet abuse warning. By that time, Safin had lost his grip on the match as well. Melzer got slightly tight serving for the match when he netted a forehand on match point before dropping serve. But Melzer, who celebrates his 23rd birthday next Saturday, broke Safin to seal one of the biggest wins of his career.
A 2002 Roland Garros semifinalist, Safin has scored significant victories on red clay, but wasn't exactly oozing optimism about his chances at Roland Garros after this loss. Speaking like a man in dire need of nap-time, Safin suggested he wouldn't compete in Paris unless he believes he can win the title.
"I only go to tournaments when I feel like playing and if I believe I can win," Safin said of the season's second Slam, which begins on May 24th. "If I don't feel like going and if I don't think I can win, I don't go. Now I'll go home, take a rest, maybe hit a few balls and we'll see how I feel."
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