Open-Federer Beats Exhausted Safin for Australian Crown

Sun Feb 1, 2004 Reuters Yahoo!
By Ossian Shine

A rampant Roger Federer brought Marat Safin to his knees on Sunday, beating the shattered Russian Goliath 7-6 6-4 6-2 to win his first Australian Open (news - web sites) crown.

Capping a week in which he became world number one for the first time, the Wimbledon (news - web sites) champion racked up a second grand slam title with a sparkling performance at Melbourne Park.

"What a great start to the year for me, winning the Open and becoming number one in the world," the Swiss smiled after collecting his check for $912,000.

"I played great from the first match on.

"That Wimbledon victory for me was such a dream, such a relief, now I know that I can do it. Now this ... it is amazing."

Nerves had got the better of Safin the last time he reached the final here, a 2002 loser to underdog Thomas Johansson.

On Sunday, the Russian simply had nothing left in the tank.

"I ran out of gas," he smiled.

"I was too tired to keep up with him. I needed just a little bit more ... just a bit more energy to stay with him.

"But you know, it's not like I played against a yo-yo, a guy who doesn't know how to play tennis. You know what I mean?

"Let's give him some credit. He is a big player. He's number one in the world, sorry to tell you," he grinned.

'HALF DYING'

Safin sympathized with disappointed fans who had wanted a closer contest. "Look, one guy is half dying out there and the other is playing his best tennis. It is sad but there is nothing you can do."

Since tennis turned professional in 1968, no player has played more sets to reach a grand slam final. The effect those 27 sets had on Safin was evident from the start.

The Russian had spent 18 hours and 51 minutes on court to reach the final, almost double the 10 hours 50 minutes Federer had needed.

The statistics spoke for themselves.

Safin was sluggish and slow to react. Federer sparkled.

"I tried to take it easy but it was just too much," Safin said. "I spent too many hours on the court, there's nothing you can do."

While the Russian could not reproduce the form that allowed him to eliminate top seed Andy Roddick and defending champion Andre Agassi (news) in earlier rounds, his fortnight's work confirms that he is back among the elite.

He picked up $456,000 and more crucially vaults up the world rankings by more than 50 places.

An injury-plagued 2003 had left the 24-year-old ranked 86 coming into Melbourne. When the new rankings are released on Monday, he will be in the top 35, ATP officials said.

"It is great, I never thought I would be in the finals here," said Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open (news - web sites) champion.

"It is OK, I am happy. If you look at the picture realistically it is great for me. I beat some great players and it is good to start the year this way.

SUPERHUMAN EFFORT

"Of course I wish I could have won this tournament but I will survive this moment."

The symmetry between the players coming into the final was striking.

Evenly matched, both men had won 11 titles. Both had seven hardcourt titles and both had won one grand slam crown.

However, from the start it was clear Federer would be the player inching ahead in the statistics books come the end of Sunday.

While the pair exchanged breaks early in the match, Federer always looked the more composed.

He romped through the tiebreak 7-3 to take a one-set lead as the energy rapidly drained from Safin.

Only once before had a player played 30 sets of tennis at a grand slam -- Harold Solomon in 1976 at the French Open (news - web sites).

An exhausted Solomon lost that final and it would have needed a superhuman effort for Safin to bounce back on this occasion.

Lurching around the court, looking to the heavens for inspiration and grimacing in frustration at each missed shot, the pressure boiled over in the second set.

Having dropped serve to hand Federer a 3-2 lead, the Russian smashed his racket in the next game, earning an official warning from British umpire Mike Morrissey.

Unmoved, Federer kept in front, taking a two-set lead in 94 minutes.

His energy sapped and his concentration frazzled, there was no way back for Safin.

He was broken for 2-1 and again for 4-1 as Federer strode toward victory.

"The Swiss don't miss," a sign being waved in the crowd said, and Federer became the first Swiss champion here three games later when Safin fired a forehand long.

Dream win for Federer
yahoo

01/02/2004

New world number one Roger Federer outclassed jaded Russian Marat Safin to win the Australian Open and then hailed his achievements in Melbourne this week as a dream come true.

Federer, as he did to Mark Philippoussis at Wimbledon last summer, wore down his opponent with relentless brilliance to win the championship without dropping a set in the final.

Safin’s heart was willing but, after consecutive five-set victories over the top seed Andy Roddick and defending champion Andre Agassi, his body was weak and Federer glided to a majestic 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 6-2 victory.

Federer, who does not have a coach, replaced Andy Roddick on top of the world rankings on Friday with his semi-final victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero.

“What a great start to the year for me to win the Australian Open and to become number one in the world,” said Federer.

“To fulfil my dream of winning the Open and reaching number one, particularly in a stadium with some mixed memories because of Davis Cup, means so much to me.”

When Safin’s forehand sailed long on championship point, Federer sunk to his knees, raised his arms in the air and cried out “yes” before acknowledging the applause of the Rod Laver Arena crowd.

Federer had been broken twice in the first set as Safin battled hard, but a convincing tiebreak performance gave him the mental edge over the tiring Russian.

The 24-year-old then rattled through to a straight sets victory in convincing fashion.

“I would like to say congratulations Roger, first of all with becoming the number one player in the world and with beating me today,” said Safin.

“He is a great player. He has all the shots. He is the most complete player on the tour. It was really impressive tennis these last two weeks and well done.”

Federer became the 22nd Australian Open champion and ended a run of different major winners at the last eight Grand Slam tournaments.

Unlike Wimbledon, there were no tears on court this time, just a ruthless execution that was too much for Safin, whose presence in the final at all was remarkable given he had spent last year plagued by injury.

When forced to spend time with his wrist in a cast, Safin had had time to contemplate his career and arrived back on tour determined to regain his rightful place in the top 10.

But it has been, and will continue to be a battle. He survived a punishing 27 sets in six rounds over 18 hours, 49 minutes to reach the final.

The total of 148 games lost are the most by any player in a Grand Slam tournament.

“I am really sorry, I just ran out of gas today,” said the 2002 runner-up.

"I am glad to be in the finals again and play my best tennis after so many injuries last year.”

Safin’s efforts were praised by Federer, who echoed the thoughts of tennis enthusiasts the world over in welcoming the Muscovite back into the group of leading men.

“Congratulations to Marat, he has been on court way longer than me (this fortnight) and it is great to see him back because he is a great guy and great player,” said Federer.

Safin had proved the ‘New Marat’ was a fighter and when the bell rang, the first set was a real wrestling match as first Safin and then Federer found themselves a break up.

The Russian was banking on extreme power, but Federer is a complete player, almost impossible to put away and after falling a break behind ran off three consecutive games to move ahead.

His control of points from the baseline proved too much for Safin, who was being forced wide or overpowered as Federer rose 4-2 ahead.

But Safin was still full of heart and unleashed a series of blistering returns which, combined with a double fault, earned the break back.

The tiebreak, though, was a different story and Safin’s poor first serve was beginning to prove costly as Federer leaped on his predictable second ball, always kicked and to the backhand.

Safin had served 123 aces in six matches during the tournament but only three today.

“The legs are the most important part of the serve, you need to bend your legs and I couldn’t,” he said.

“My legs were just too tired to do this.”

That began to frustrate Safin who, while his battling qualities are not in doubt – he saved 13 of 18 break points – remains of fragile confidence.

A double fault and backhand into the net gave Federer a 3-2 lead in the second set. He then held consecutive games to love as another of Safin’s racquets bit the dust in a typical fit of rage.

Safin’s previous exertions seemed to be taking their toll as Federer cruised on though, moving freely and punishing wickedly to move two breaks up and start his season in style.

Federer hits winners even with the frame of his racquet. Safin hit his best shot, a screaming return of serve, with a broken racquet that he was obliged to replace. He broke two racquets on the day, but thought nothing of it. "I broke one year 68 racquets," he said. Safin is the new Ivanisevic.

For four consecutive service games in the middle of the match, Federer did not lose even a point. Safin, meantime, was having to fight battle after titanic battle to hold his serve, and everyone knows how far the Titanic got. In truth, if Federer had not been so profligate at break points, winning just five of 18, this match would have been even more one-sided.

Federer scarcely put a foot wrong. In the second set, Safin put his foot in it, forgetting even which court to serve from for one point. He said he was lost in thought about how he might get out of this mess.

Federer's body language, one of four he speaks, did not change from first point to last; he was Swiss neutral. Safin wilted before centre court's eyes. His swagger became a slouch, then a slump. He would only have had to get into a bathtub to become The Dead Marat.

The crowd, which warms to Safin as it once did to Ivanisevic, tried to jolly him. "C'mon, Safin, you can do it," a spectator cried out at the start of the third set. "I'm trying, I'm trying," responded Safin. "Think like an Aussie," yelled another, unthinkingly. If Safin had thought like an Aussie, he would have been eliminated in the round of 16.

Safin said the crowd had been too much on his side, adding to the pressure. After another had urged him to lift, he retorted: "Heh, don't give me a hard time. I'm trying my best." That much was clear. The day when Safin infamously gave up on a match here, and was fined for it, was long ago.

Too often, finals in all sports shake down this way. Survival of the fittest sometimes forces competitors across a line from fitness to exhaustion. Safin said that after spending almost seven hours more than Federer on the court, he had run out of gas. He had felt it even in his hit-up in the morning.

His legs were heavy, which he said was why his serve failed him. He landed fewer than half his first serves, and hit just three aces, but five double-faults. In his semi-final defeat of Andre Agassi, he had hit 33 aces and not a single double-fault. The points played when he did land his first serve yesterday were competitive, but too rare. Federer pounced on his second serves like a cat on a piece of Swiss cheese.

Safin staked his all on the first set. He led it twice, with an early break of serve, then an early mini-break in the tie-breaker, but Federer toughed it out to win five of the last six points. The rest was formality. Upon securing victory, Federer fell to his knees, but only briefly. Wimbledon had been the realisation of a dream. This was the founding of a dynasty.

Safin said he might have held on to beat another player. "It's not like I played a yo-yo. The guy can play tennis," he said. "Let's give the guy some credit. He's No. 1 in the world, I have to tell you."

The final fell flat, but the tournament promised a year of plenty. A new, young generation is taking over, and even Lleyton Hewitt is beginning to look a little old hat. Federer is drawing comparisons with Sampras in terms of what he might achieve. Safin said he was not yet as devastating as Sampras, but had a better backhand.

Safin's role cannot be underestimated. He was unseeded, but that was a false reading, based on his last, injury-dogged year. He beat five Americans and so helped to shape the course of tennis history. His semi-final win over Agassi might have put an end to Agassi's winning ways in majors; his quarter-final win over Andy Roddick guaranteed that Federer would become No. 1. "I made a present to Federer," he said. Yesterday, he did again.

Borg is Swedish; Federer is Swiss. But Federer shares the Swede's awesome impassive-ness on court, his face seldom betraying whatever inner turmoil he may be experiencing. Both have their names on the Wimbledon trophy.

Yet Federer now has something Borg never managed, something Borg never seemed very interested in winning, an Australian Open title.

Federer, officially the world's No.1 player, claimed his first Open crown at 4.25 yesterday afternoon by defeating Marat Safin of Russia 7-6 6-4 6-2, the scoreline accurately reflecting the fact that Safin simply "ran out of gas", as he put it himself.

Safin won the two best matches of the tournament, consecutive marathon victories over Americans Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, but had little energy left.

Federer, by contrast, had plenty in reserve. He is 22, two years younger than Safin, and en route to the final dropped two sets compared with Safin's nine. More significantly, he had spent eight fewer hours running around a tennis court.

One of the enduring images of yesterday's match, played in perfect conditions under an overcast sky, will be Safin mopping his face with a towel while Federer studied his racquet-strings like a violinist wondering which tune to conjure next.

Federer is a more elegant player than Borg and uses an old-fashioned backhand rather than the Swede's double-hander. He also uses variety, an increasingly rare thing in a power-obsessed game.

He uses angles like a billiards player, slices his backhand so that a big man like Safin has to bend low to reach the ball, and is not afraid of approaching the net.

He is also capable of sudden explosions, murderous attacks that come without warning. Several times yesterday he returned Safin's service with clean winners.

He was able to do this because Safin's biggest weapon, his serve, was sadly off. Against Agassi on Thursday, Safin sent down 33 aces and not one double-fault. In the final, which next year becomes a night event, his five double-faults outnumbered a paltry three aces. Safin attributed this to his lack of energy, especially in his legs. Whatever the reason, he found himself holding a pop-gun rather than a flame-thrower when he needed a weapon.

Aware of his fatigue, which he said was obvious to him during a morning practice session, he tried desperately hard to win the first set. He got the break he wanted in just the third game, but immediately surrendered the advantage. He lost his own serve by dumping a backhand into the net, and for the remaining two hours of the match it seemed as though he was always on the defensive, always facing break-points, always plod plod plodding from one side of the court to another with his head sinking lower.

His frustration mounted. When he lost serve early in the second set he raised his racquet like a man desperately wanting to smash it. He didn't, but the warning light was flashing red.

Two games later, a double-fault brought up another break point. This time the racquet head did connect with the court.

Another enduring image from yesterday: Safin slumped in his courtside chair with a distorted racquet on the ground beside him while, nearby, Federer checks that his pristine white headband is still perfectly straight. In truth, it was a disappointing match. The showdown between the new No.1 and a man who almost became No.1 in 2000 had promised a lot.

But Safin, who missed much of last year due to a wrist injury, was simply unable to replicate the power and precision he displayed against Agassi. Still, he praised Federer, whom he described as "a great player . . . It's not like I played against a yo-yo, a guy who doesn't know how to play tennis. Let's give him some credit."

Federer, Lleyton Hewitt's conqueror here, had never got past the fourth round in his four previous visits to Melbourne Park, but has now won two of the past three Grand Slam championships.

His overwhelming emotion on winning Wimbledon had been relief, he said, whereas his Australian victory coupled with his new No.1 status gave him a huge sense of satisfaction.

It was also, he noted, "a great start of the year for me". And in these days of huge entourages, Federer won the championship without a coach.

Safin, who seemed to have the majority of crowd support yesterday, was proud to have reached the final as an unseeded player with an official ranking of 86 at the start of the fortnight. But after getting so far he would have loved to have gone further.

After losing to the unheralded Thomas Johansson in 2002, the big Russian has now been runner-up twice at Melbourne Park and has won just one set in two finals. Another defeat like yesterday's could leave his psyche badly scarred. It would also play hell with his racquets.

As for Federer, it's a question of how far he can go. Already he's facing questions about a Grand Slam - winning all four major titles in one year. "It's really difficult," he said when asked about his chances, before adding with a smile: "You know, I'm the only guy who has a chance this year to do it, so that's not a bad situation."

Also smiling were Open organisers, who announced a new TV deal and a total attendance of 521,691, the second-highest on record.

In Justine Henin-Hardenne and Federer they ended up with a new pair of champions who had been seeded first and second respectively. It was Safin who knocked out top seed Roddick as well as defending champ Agassi so it was fitting he should be there on the last afternoon.

But Federer is a deserving champion. He talks about feeling nervous and emotional on court, but apart from an occasional mild self-reproach in German he seldom gives much away. Just like Borg, who won 11 major titles before he hung up his headband. Federer now has two, is playing like a man in full flight, and has time on his side.

The Russian was worn out after a gruelling fortnight that included five-set wins over the defending champion, Andre Agassi, and the top seed, Andy Roddick, in the semi-finals and quarters. "He was fresh; I wasn't," Safin said. "I was too tired to keep up with him. He's a great player. He has all the shots. He's the most complete player on the tour."

A nervous, rather subdued Federer did not parade his best tennis yesterday, but few would argue with Safin's assessment or question the Swiss player's new status as world No 1.

The 22-year-old, now the holder of two major titles, Wimbledon as well as the Australian Open, sank to his knees at the Rod Laver Arena after a forehand error by Safin had delivered him a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory after two hours and 15 minutes. He did not repeat his tearful performance at the Wimbledon trophy presentation. It was not that yesterday's result was not sweet. But in the past year he has grown into the role of a Grand Slam champion.

"That Wimbledon victory for me was such a dream and such a relief," he said. "I can't really describe what I felt right then, right there. I like the way it is right now. I didn't really feel 100 per cent ready before. At Wimbledon, it was still too early. Now I feel I can win majors. Now I kind of know how it feels. It gets me all emotional inside. It's just unbelievable."

Hopes of an epic final were bolstered when Safin, playing in his first Grand Slam for a year after spending eight months of last season injured, broke Federer's serve in the third game. But the No 2 seed returned the gesture straight away and the pair exchanged another break, with Safin saving two set points at 5-6, before the tie-break ended in the Swiss man's favour.

You felt that had Safin won that first set, he might have got a second wind that could have carried him deep inside the match. Instead, his legs grew heavy and his shoulders sagged. At one point, he nearly served from the wrong half of the court. The umpire gently reminded him where he was.

The first racket bit the dust in the first set, although the Russian struck a winner with the crumpled frame before fetching a replacement. The second followed after he had double-faulted to yield a break point in the seventh game of the next set, earning him a code violation. Asked if he had ever attacked a racket so violently before, Safin replied, dismissively: "I broke one year 68 rackets."

The second set was swift, with Federer breaking for 3-2 in the fifth game. In the third set, two consecutive breaks left him serving comfortably for the championship at 5-2.

The Russian, increasingly frustrated, kept up an angry monologue as the crowd urged its favourite on. "Come on, Safin, you can do it!" shouted one spectator. "I'm trying, I'm trying," he barked back. But he managed only three aces and double-faulted five times - a miserable tally compared with his 33 aces and no double-faults during his semi-final against Agassi.

If the crowd was disappointed by the one-sided match, Safin - once he had showered and calmed down - was philosophical. It was, after all, an amazing achievement to reach a Grand Slam final immediately after returning to the circuit. The former world No 1 and 2000 US Open champion entered the tournament ranked No 86.

"I'm happy," he said. "Great two weeks. I beat great players. I don't want to push myself down because I lost a match against Federer. It's not like I played against a yo-yo, a guy who doesn't know how to play tennis. You know what I mean? I wish I could win the final, but it's OK. I can survive that moment."

There is already talk of Federer winning the Grand Slam, all four majors in a calendar year. But he knows that, with the men's field brimming with talent, it is only a distant possibility. "I feel like not many guys can do it," he said. "If there are any, I would like them to step forward, because I think it's really difficult."

Federer did succeed in winning a major without the help of a coach, having sacked Peter Lundgren last year. Pat Cash, the former Wimbledon champion turned commentator, was among those who rubbished his chances. Cash has been made to eat his words.