Marat Safin
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safinis a Russian retired tennis player and politician. Safin won two Grand Slam tournaments and reached the world no. 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin is the older brother of former world No. 1 WTA player, Dinara Safina. They are the first and only brother–sister tandem in tennis history who have both achieved no. 1 rankings...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth27 January 1980
CityMoscow, Russia
CountryRussian Federation
I've played him many times, six times, but the way he is playing this year, with confidence, to beat him will be very tough. A little bit of luck would be great.
But it was still a great match. I don't know the last time I played such great tennis. It was probably my best match ever on grass.
I didn't practice for one month and a half and I played three matches in a row and today I felt really, really tired on the court. I couldn't move properly and I couldn't find my game. My timing was not there. So it's really difficult to play against any player.
We have known each other since we were nine years old and we have played together in Russia, ... We played in the Under-16 European championships and he beat me in the quarterfinals. He's one of my best friends and I really like him. It will be nice to play him and hopefully get revenge.
He played really well and his game caught me off guard a bit. But I was expecting him to give me a tough match because the French always raise their game when they're playing at home in Davis Cup.
The first set was a bit tough because I hadn't played a match for six months. You are unable to decide where you have to move, when you have to go to the net, whether to put pressure or stay back. I was a bit lost and tense because I knew that I had a chance.
I'm really happy with the way I played, definitely my best since Melbourne last year.
It's still very painful, I have to think about every movement on the court, cannot hit the balls as I would like to,
I'm just hoping to play as many tournaments I can to get my ranking back.
I'm taking this tournament very seriously and in this sort of match you have to take your opportunities when they come.
It was not enough matches, so many mistakes. Like I've said, you need to get the rhythm back. It doesn't come straight away. It's still a long way and I have many things to work on. I hope it will come back soon.
It was little bit too late to come back in the second set. I was missing a lot on baseline, my serve was not there.
It was a great comeback from Pete ... I was always under pressure,
It will be quite difficult, you have to do something special against him (Federer), he is so far from all of us,