Wilander Says Pupil Safin Must Seize Element of Surprise

Q&A: MATS WILANDER

Jan 2002

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Russian player and '00 U.S. Open champ Marat Safin took a long time deliberating over whether he would rehire his Swedish coach Mats Wilander for this season. Safin is concerned that the eight-time Grand Slam Wilander - who has a family - won't have enough time to travel with him but decided to retain him for the Aussie Open.
In the following Q & A with tennisreporters.net, the cerebral Wilander, who was just voted for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, reflects on the big temperamental Russian's 2001 season and analyses how Safin can regain the form that briefly brought him to No. 1 in the fall of 2000.

tennisreporters.net: Are you happy with Marat's fall 2001 season after what happened earlier in the year?
Mats Wilander: He could have done better at the U.S. Open, but he did well to get to the semis. Sampras played too well . I think if Marat would have won the second set he would have beaten Sampras because Sampras was getting tired. He
was a little unlucky. Personally, I think it was better that he didn't win the title two years in a row, being that young and taking the world by surprise in 2000. It's always nice to win a second grand Slam, but sometimes things can come too fast.

Mats Wilander must deal with a temperamental Safin.

tr.net: Is it fair to say that Marat pushed too hard to become No. 1 in the fall of 2000, overplayed and that hurt him in '01?
Wilander: He was injured most of the first four months of the 2001. He did struggle most of the year. He really started to pull it together at Wimbledon [where he lost to Goran Ivanisevic in the quarters] and I was impressed with the rest of his summer.

tr.net: Are you happy with his development since you've been with him? What has he improved?
Wilander: His table manners (laughs). He has to learn that you can't always play at 100 percent. He's dealing with that. He was comparing everything with the way he played against Sampras in the final of the '00 U.S Open and it's hard to judge anyone against that, because that's the best I've ever seen anyone play. That's impossible to do, but that's the only big match he's played in his life and he judging everything against that. It's understandable but he has to stop doing that.

tr.net: Did that ever happen to you when you were playing?
Wilander: No. My 100 percent level is different than his. It happened to McEnroe because of his talent, but it never happened to Connors, Borg or I because we never tried to play at 100 percent. It was too risky for us. "It's much easier to change your forehand than it is to change your mindset."

tr.net: You didn't overpower your opponents but when you played at the top of your game and won Slams, you certainly got a lot of balls back.
Wilander: Yeah, but Marat was hitting winners from everywhere against Sampras. There were a lot of matches when I was there 100 percent mentally and the physical part was there as well. Whereas Marat has only had a few matches when he was there mentally and physically. He's had more when he been there just physically and that won't win you many titles.

tr.net: Is it hard to coach someone who is so dissimilar of a player?
Wilander: No. It's easier because it's very apparent what he's doing wrong. If I was coaching someone with a similar style to me, I couldn't offer anything deeper. That's when you tend to screw guys up. You have to allow a player to have his own style. Agassi only came into his own after working with Brad Gilbert for four years. Changing someone's mental attitude takes a long time. I'm not sure if I can do it with Marat but somebody's going to have to do it. It's much easier to change your forehand than it is to change your mindset.

tr.net: The player has to be willing to change.
Wilander: Marat is willing to change.

tr.net: Does Marat need to come into the net more? He's not a natural volleyer but he's such a tall guy you would think that he can benefit from it.
Wilander: He's not a natural at the net but he had good technique on his volleys. But he doesn't get up there enough, he's waiting for sitters all the time. It's similar to Agassi - the only time he comes in is when he knows he going to put it away. Marat comes in a little too much sometimes with the skill he has. He has to develop his net game more.

At some point, Marat will be able to play the whole game. I think he'll develop one than an Agassi or Kuerten at the net. I don't want to say he'll be like Sampras, but he can move in that direction and become less of a baseliner. That's the right way to be. With a big serve like that, Marat can serve and volley sometimes. He can't be a structured as he was. His game is a little too clean. He needs the surprise element more often than not. But I like his game on any surface. He's strong and moves well enough to beat the better guys everywhere.