Safin Ousted in Comeback Bid
ATP Tennis.com
October 1, 2003

Russian Marat Safin crashed out at the first hurdle in the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday, losing to qualifier Wayne Black of Zimbabwe in three tight sets. The fourth seeded Russian was competing in his first match since withdrawing from the first round in Los Angeles in late July with a wrist injury. Safin's lack of match practice showed as Black edged through 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Safin:"Of course I'm upset that I lost. I know that it will be fine when I get over it. I haven't played for a long time, so I need to get my confidence back and regain my physical conditioning. Next up for me is Lyon, Madrid, St. Petersburg and Paris. I will play all of them and I really need to win some matches to get that confidence. Of course, I have a very strong desire to come back, but I know there will be psychological difficulties.

On the possibility of needing surgery: "It was a possibility, I had some problems. The long absence influenced me a lot. And after that break, it's definitely tough to get right back out and play. My confidence is obviously missing and there is even a little fear out there with the wrist."

On his time away from the game: "I went traveling in the mountains in South America. Went to Yosemite National Park... I went fishing also. The biggest fish I caught was a trout about this big [hands 10 inches apart]. I was just resting, thinking about life."

 

Safin Falls In Return At Kremlin Cup
By Adrianna Outlaw
10/01/2003

Marat Safin's return to tournament tennis ended in a Black-out. Wayne Black spoiled Safin's homecoming today scoring a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 victory over the former No. 1 at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

It was Safin's first match since he was forced to retire with a wrist injury while trailing Prakash Amritraj, 3-5, in the opening-round of the Mercedes Benz Cup in Los Angeles on July 29th.

"I can't be to disappointed, at least I was able to win a set today," said the 26th-ranked Safin, who was playing only his second match since April 28th. "Obviously, I'm way off my top form, but hopefully I'll get it back little by little."

Rusty from a long-layoff an erratic Safin committed 58 unforced errors and surrendered serve three times in the match.

The 23-year-old Russian, who has posted a 12-8 record this season, initially sustained the wrist injury at the Australian Open in January. Safin withdrew from his third-round match with Rainer Schuettler at the season's first Grand Slam.

Since then, one of Safin's best showings in an injury-shortened season came at the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells where he reached the fourth round and was weakened by a flu-like virus in suffering the worst defeat of his career, a 6-0, 6-1 setback to Robby Ginepri. He followed that performance with a shocking 7-6(9), 7-5 second-round setback to 30-year-old Italian Davide Sanguinetti at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne.

 

Capriati, Safin Fall at First Hurdle in Moscow
Wed October 1, 2003
By Gennady Fyodorov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Marat Safin's long-awaited comeback from injury came to an abrupt halt when the 2000 U.S. Open champion was beaten by Zimbabwe's Wayne Black in the Kremlin Cup first round on Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded Safin, playing in his first match since July, disappointed a large home crowd at the Olympiisky Sports Complex, losing to unseeded Black 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

"I can't be to disappointed, at least I was able to win a set today," said Safin, who has played only once since April after being troubled by injuries for much of the year.

"Obviously, I'm way off my top form, but hopefully I'll get it back little by little," added the Russian, who committed 58 unforced errors while hitting only five winners against Black.

Safin first injured his wrist ligaments at the Australian Open in January, weeks after leading Russia to the 2002 Davis Cup title. Then he suffered an ankle injury in training before the 2003 Davis Cup quarter-final against Argentina in April.

Injuries forced him to miss the year's three other grand slams and his world ranking has slumped to 26, the lowest since early 1999. He is 62nd in the ATP Tour's Champions Race.

 

Safin stunned in Moscow