 |
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| Country |  Russia |
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| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Date of birth | January 27 1980 | |
| Place of birth | Moscow, Soviet Union  |
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| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | |
| Weight | 88 kg (200 lbs) | |
| Turned Pro | 1997 | |
| Plays | Right-handed; two-handed backhand | |
| Career Prize Money | US$13,142,980 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 379-221 | |
| Career titles: | 15 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 1 (November 20, 2000) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | W (2005) | |
| French Open | SF (2002) | |
| Wimbledon | QF (2001) | |
| U.S. Open | W (2000) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 88-101 | |
| Career titles: | 2 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 71 (April 22, 2002) | |
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Infobox last updated on: November 9, 2007. |
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Marat Safin, Russian: Марат Михайлович Сафин /mɑ.ˈrɑt.ˈsɑ.fən/; b. January 27, 1980) is a Russian former World No. 1 tennis player of Tatar ethnicity.[1]. Safin began his professional career in 1997 and held the No. 1 world ranking for 9 weeks in November and December of 2000. He is known for his good looks, large physical size, athleticism, controversial antics, and aggressive "power" style of play. He is fluent in Russian, English and Spanish. Safin's greatest accomplishments are winning the 2000 U.S. Open (defeating Pete Sampras) and the 2005 Australian Open (defeating Lleyton Hewitt). Safin also helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.
Contents |
Tennis career
Early life and career
Safin was born in Moscow, USSR (now Russia), to an ethnic Tatar[2] [3] [4] family. His parents were former tennis players and coaches. His younger sister is a professional tennis player Dinara Safina, and not the singer Alsou Safina, contrary to public belief, although she also has a brother named Marat. Safin's father managed the local Spartak Tennis Club where Safin trained in his youth alongside several up-and-coming tennis players, including Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva, and Anastasia Myskina. At age fourteen he moved to Valencia, Spain, to gain access to advanced tennis training programs which were not available in Russia. Safin gained the attention of the tennis establishment in 1998 with his consecutive victories over Andre Agassi and (defending champion) Gustavo Kuerten at the French Open. Marat himself is Muslim.
World No.1 and 2000 US Open
Safin held the No. 1 ATP ranking for 9 weeks during 2000. In that year, he won his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, by defeating (then) 4-time US Open winner and (eventual) 14-time Grand Slam tournament winner Pete Sampras in straight sets. The match is often referenced as the one of the greatest performances in the history of the game and certainly Safin's best performance. Tennis experts immediately hailed Safin as the new star who would dominate tennis in future years. However, Safin failed to live up to this hype. He suffered a succession of injuries which affected his game and, in 2003, resulted in his missing the majority of the season.
Grand Slam history
Safin reached the final round in three more Grand Slam tournaments, all in the Australian Open (in 2002, 2004 and 2005). He has cited nervousness as the reason for his loss in the 2002 event, and physical exhaustion for the 2004 loss. He defeated home-country favorite Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 finals to secure his second Grand Slam in five years. En route to this final, he defeated top-ranked Roger Federer in an epic five-set semi-final match. Safin later described the match as "a brain fight". Safin's win ended Federer's 26-match winning streak over top-10 players, denting the Swiss player's aura of supposed invincibility. He has never progressed further than the quarterfinals of Wimbledon (2001), often losing in the first or second rounds even as a Top 10 player. In 2002 he reached the semifinals of the French Open, his best performance there to date.
Masters' Series
Safin has won five ATP Tennis Masters Series titles during his career. His first was in 2000 when he won the title in Toronto, Canada. He holds a record-tying three (2000, 2002, and 2004) wins in Paris, France, and one in 2004 in Madrid, Spain.
Tennis Masters' Cup
In 2004, Safin reached the Semifinal of the Tennis Masters' Cup in Houston, where he was defeated by Roger Federer, 6-3, 7-6(18). The second-set tiebreak was the third tiebreak of the score 20-18 in the Open Era. Safin also reached the semifinals in 2001.
Davis Cup
Marat Safin also helped Russia to its first Davis Cup victory in 2002, with a 3-2 tie-breaking win against France in the final round at the Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy. His Russian team included Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mikhail Youzhny, Andrei Stoliarov, and team captain Shamil Tarpischev. The team made Davis Cup history by being the second to win the event after losing the doubles tie-breaker, and becoming the first team to win a (live-televised) five-set finals match by coming back from a two-set deficit. Safin also helped Russia to win the Davis Cup in 2006. After a straight sets defeat by David Nalbandian in his first match, his doubles victory (partnering Dmitry Tursunov) against Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri and singles victory against Jose Acasuso drove Russia to victory.
2005
After winning the 2005 Australian Open, Safin attributed his recent revival and more consistent performance to the calming presence of his new coach Peter Lundgren, saying that "I never believed in myself before at all, until I started to work with him." Lundgren had been Federer's coach, until parting ways at the end of 2003; Safin hired Lundgren the following year. All the talk about Safin finding his consistency was a false dawn, however, as he was defeated in the early rounds of each of the seven tournaments he played between the Australian Open and the French Open. In June 2005, shortly after his unsuccessful French Open campaign, Safin made a surprise finals appearance at the Wimbledon tune-up tournament in Halle on grass -- admittedly, his least-favorite playing surface. He lost the final narrowly to the defending champion, Roger Federer.
2006
Although a serious knee-injury hampered Safin's progression and rankings within the ATP (he missed the 2005 US Open and 2006 Australian Open), he has since got back on-track with appearances at the 2006 ATP Masters tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg. On August 17, 2006, after a disappointing year, which saw his ranking drop as low as 104, Safin temporarily parted ways with coach Peter Lundgren. [5] At the 2006 US Open, Safin looked like he was back on track as he defeated the then world #4 David Nalbandian in the 2nd Round in a 5th Set tiebreaker. However, his run didn't last much longer as in the 4th Round he lost to former world #2 Tommy Haas, also on a 5th set tiebreaker. Safin's current improvement in form has continued, firstly in September, with an impressive home Davis Cup tie where Russia beat the USA 3-2 to gain a place in the finals in December 2006, and secondly with a good run at the start of the indoor season the Thailand Open where he was narrowly edged out by #7 seed, James Blake. On October 14, 2006, Safin made it to his first final in a year-and-a-half at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the first all Russian final at that event, losing to Nikolay Davydenko. On December 3, 2006, Safin defeated Jose Acasuso 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the 5th rubber of the 2006 Davis Cup, winning the cup for Russia. He had previously lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to David Nalbandian in his first match. In the doubles match, he teamed with Dmitry Tursunov to win the doubles match against Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in straight sets.
2007
Safin played no warm-up tournaments in the run up to the Australian Open. As Safin was forced to miss the tournament in 2006 due to injury, 2007 was his first Australian Open since he captured the title in 2005. Safin played the first round against Germany's Benjamin Becker, defeating him in a 5 set battle, 5-7, 7-6(7-2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Safin went on to beat Israeli qualifier Dudi Sela, from two sets to one down, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 7-6(7-4), 6-0. Safin played sixth seed Andy Roddick in the much anticipated third round match, and lost 6-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 in a grueling 3-hour match. Roddick commented after the match, "With Marat you know you are going to get an emotional roller-coaster. You just have to try and focus on yourself and I was able to do that tonight." He later added jokingly: "And it doesn't help that he's nine feet tall". The Davis Cup Quarter Finals took place in April, when Russia met France. Marat did not take part in any of the first four matches, and after the rubbers were tied at 2 all, he played the final and deciding rubber against Paul-Henri Mathieu. It is to be noted that all other matches played over the weekend went to five sets; Marat's match was over in three and straight sets with Safin and Russia emerging as the victor. This earned the team a spot in the Davis Cup Semi Finals against Germany from the 21st to the 23rd of September 2007; the other Semi Final will take place between the USA and Sweden. At Wimbledon, Safin reached the third round where he met Roger Federer, he lost the match 1-6, 4-6, 6-7(7-4). After Wimbledon, in July, Safin announced that he and his coach Alexander Volkov were parting and that his new coach would be former pro Herman Gumy. At the US Open he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round with a scoreline of 3-6 3-6 3-6. After the US Open, Safin announced, via his official website, that he had prematurely ended his season as a result of a recurring wrist injury, felt during his 2nd round match in the US Open. He was to spend 4-6 weeks, beginning Friday the 14th of September, climbing the mountain of Cho Oyu, on the border of Nepal and Tibet. This trip was cut short as Safin, via a message on his official website, relayed his feelings of the difficulty of this trip. As a result he returned to Moscow on the 22nd of September, will be practising in Moscow with coach Gumy, and is hoping to return to tennis in the Madrid event. He was there to support the Russian team as they won through to the Final of the Davis Cup with a 3-2 win over Germany. They will play the USA in late November/early December, in Portland, USA. Partnering with fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov, Safin won the doubles title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in October to win his first ATP-level tournament since winning the 2005 Australian Open singles crown. Marat also entered in the singles event of the Kremlin Cup, in which he lost 4-6 4-6 to Igor Andreev in the 2nd round. He also played in the Madrid Masters only to lose first round to Ivo Karlovic 3-6 4-6. After this loss, he announced a premature end to his 2007 tennis season, as he believed he never fully recovered from his mountain climbing break. He will not play for Russia in the Davis Cup Final but will concentrate on readying himself for Australian summer season in 2008.
2008
Marat will prepare for the Australian Open at the invitational exhibition tournament, the AAMI Kooyong Classic in Melbourne. Other players in the field are Federer, Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez, Nalbandian, Haas, Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Murray. As stated on Safin's official website, no decision has been made as to what tournaments Marat will play after the Australian Open - this will be decided by ranking at the end of the Open. Marat will arrive in Melbourne, Australia on New Year's Day.
Characteristics
Safin is notorious for his emotional outbursts during matches. He is noted for having smashed numerous rackets and, at the 2004 Roland Garros tournament, he pulled his shorts down to his thighs —he was wearing underwear— after winning a point in a second round match against Felix Mantilla. He frequently verbally berates himself for lost points, speaking in the languages of Russian, Spanish and English. He is also known for having arguments with the chair umpires. One such recent example took place in the 2007 Australian Open, after a rain delay during his 3rd round match with Andy Roddick. The court was, to his belief, still wet and hence he refused to continue play until it was dried properly. This led to an extensive argument with the chair umpire and tournament referee until the problem was properly solved by the towelling down of the suspect area.
Playing Style
Safin's game is based around his physical size and strength to outplay his opponents generally with big strokes and pace. Although Safin is 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) tall, he has excellent footwork and footspeed on all surfaces unlike other players of his height. But at the same time, Safin's biggest weakness is his mental game, which has proven to be for the most part inconsistent. He has never won a match from being love to 2 sets down nor has he had an overall successful season, except for 2000, having many ups and downs. However when Safin is mentally fit, he possesses a very powerful all-round game that is capable of defeating most opponents on virtually any surface. Although Safin is a big hitter from both wings, a big server and a solid volleyer, he strangely considers grass his least favorite surface which has been generally dominated by players who have playing styles similar to Safin. His dislike of grass however, has been statistically true, as he has never won a tournament on grass and his best run in Wimbledon was a quarterfinal result in 2001 which has been his worst result in Grand Slams.
Equipment
Marat Safin officially uses the Head Flexpoint Prestige mid-size tennis racquet. Safin won his first Grand Slam the US Open in 2000, where he used the Head Prestige Classic 600. A year later Safin signed with Dunlop and played with the Dunlop 200MG. In 2002 Safin reverted back to using the Head Prestige Classic 600 and has played with the PC600 ever since, although painted as the following racquets purely for promotional purposes (including the Dunlop), respectively: iPrestige, LiquidMetal Prestige and finally the Flexpoint Prestige.[6] His racquets used to be strung using Babolat VS Natural Team Gut 17L gauge. He now uses a 'hybrid' of Babolat VS Team Gut 17L (crosses) and Luxilon ALU-Power Rough 16L (mains) strung at about 62 lbs and 64 lbs respectively.[7] His clothing and shoe sponsor is Adidas and has been for the last seven years.
Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2000 | U.S. Open |  Pete Sampras |
6-4, 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2005 | Australian Open |  Lleyton Hewitt |
1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 |
Runner-ups (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2002 | Australian Open |  Thomas Johansson |
3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 |
| 2004 | Australian Open |  Roger Federer |
7-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
ATP Tour titles (17)
Singles wins (15)
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Doubles wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | 2001 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Roger Federer |
Michael Hill / Jeff Tarango |
0-1, RET. |
| 2. | 2007 | Moscow, Russia | Carpet |  Dmitry Tursunov |
 Tomáš Cibulec /  Lovro Zovko |
6-4, 6-2 |
ATP Tour runner-ups (15)
Singles runner-ups (11)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | Nov 7, 1999 | Paris, France | Carpet (I) | Andre Agassi |
7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 |
| 2. | May 21, 2000 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay |  Gustavo Kuerten |
6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 |
| 3. | Aug 20, 2000 | Indianapolis, U.S. | Hard | Gustavo Kuerten |
3-6, 7-6, 7-6 |
| 4. | Feb 4, 2001 | Dubai, UAE | Hard |  Juan Carlos Ferrero |
6-2, 6-3 |
| 5. | Jan 27, 2002 | Australian Open, Melbourne | Hard | Thomas Johansson |
3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 |
| 6. | May 19, 2002 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay | Roger Federer |
6-1, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 7. | Apr 27, 2003 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Carlos Moyà |
5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 3-0 retired |
| 8. | Feb 1, 2004 | Australian Open, Melbourne | Hard | Roger Federer |
7-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 9. | Apr 18, 2004 | Estoril, Portugal | Clay |  Juan Ignacio Chela |
6-7, 6-3, 6-3 |
| 10. | Jun 12, 2005 | Halle, Germany | Grass | Roger Federer |
6-4, 6-7, 6-4 |
| 11. | Oct 9, 2006 | Moscow, Russia | Carpet | Nikolay Davydenko |
6-4, 5-7, 6-4 |
Doubles runner-ups (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Carpet |  Andrei Medvedev |
Justin Gimelstob / Daniel Vacek |
6-2, 6-1 |
| 2. | 2001 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Hard (i) |  Irakli Labadze |
Denis Golovanov / Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
7-5, 6-4 |
| 3. | 2002 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Hard (i) | Irakli Labadze |
 David Adams / Jared Palmer |
7-6, 6-3 |
| 4. | 2005 | Halle, Germany | Grass | Joachim Johansson |
Yves Allegro / Roger Federer |
7-5, 6-7, 6-3 |
Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through the U.S. Open, which is still in progress.
| Tournament | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Career SR | Career win-loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | 3R | 1R | 4R | F | 3R | F | W | A | 3R | 1 / 8 | 28-6 |
| French Open | A | 4R | 4R | QF | 3R | SF | A | 4R | 4R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 9 | 24-9 |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | A | 2R | QF | 2R | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 0 / 7 | 9-7 |
| U.S. Open | A | 4R | 2R | W | SF | 2R | A | 1R | A | 4R | 2R | 1 / 8 | 21-7 |
| Grand Slam SR | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 2 / 31 | N/A |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss1 | 0-0 | 6-3 | 6-3 | 12-3 | 14-4 | 13-4 | 2-0 | 9-4 | 12-2 | 4-3 | 6-4 | N/A | 81-28 |
| Tennis Masters Cup | A | A | A | SF | A | RR | A | SF | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4-7 |
| ATP Masters Series1 | |||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | 3R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 4R | 2R | 0 / 9 | 12-9 |
| Miami Masters | A | A | 4R | 2R | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 9 | 6-9 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | A | SF | 3R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 8 | 10-8 |
| Rome Masters | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 8 | 9-8 |
| Hamburg Masters | A | A | 2R | F | 2R | F | A | 3R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 8 | 17-8 |
| Canada Masters | A | A | A | W | 1R | QF | A | 1R | A | 1R | 2R | 1 / 6 | 10-5 |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | A | QF | QF | 1R | 1R | 0 / 8 | 8-8 |
| Madrid Masters (Stuttgart) | A | A | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | W | A | QF | 1R | 1 / 8 | 10-7 |
| Paris Masters | A | A | F | W | 3R | W | A | W | A | QF | A | 3 / 6 | 23-3 |
| Total Titles | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 15 |
| Overall Win-Loss | 0-1 | 17-18 | 39-32 | 73-27 | 45-27 | 56-26 | 12-11 | 52-23 | 27-11 | 35-25 | 13-11 | N/A | 379-221 |
| Year End Ranking | 203 | 49 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 77 | 4 | 12 | 26 | 58 | N/A | N/A |
A = did not participate in the tournament. SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played. 1The win and loss totals do not include walkovers.
Trivia
- Safin's younger sister, Dinara Safina, is a US Open Women's Doubles champion, as well as a former top 10 player on the WTA Tour.
- Safin supports Spain's Valencia CF football team.
- Safin is usually driven crazy by Fabrice Santoro during matches (with a 2-7 record) once saying "being told I would play Santoro was being told I was to die."
See also
External links
- Marat Safin.com Official website
- MARAT SAFIN serving an ace (actualité, résultats, classements, photos, vidéos, sondages, jeux...)
- Marat Safin OnlineFansite
- ATP Tour profile for Marat Safin
- Safin Recent Match Results
- Safin World Ranking History
- Interview Following Match With Gael Monfils at Legg Mason Tennis Classic, 8/3/08
- Safinator Fansite
- Marat Safin at the Internet Movie Database
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pete Sampras Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo Kuerten |
World No. 1 November 20, 2000 - December 3, 2000 January 29, 2001 - February 25, 2001 April 2, 2001 - April 22, 2001 |
Succeeded by Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo Kuerten |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Julián Alonso |
ATP Newcomer of the Year 1998 |
Succeeded by Juan Carlos Ferrero |
| Preceded by Nicolás Lapentti |
ATP Most Improved Player 2000 |
Succeeded by Goran Ivanišević |
| Preceded by Sergio García |
Laureus World Newcomer of the Year 2001 |
Succeeded by Juan Pablo Montoya |
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| Ilie Năstase | John Newcombe | Jimmy Connors | Björn Borg | John McEnroe | Ivan Lendl | Mats Wilander | Stefan Edberg | Boris Becker | Jim Courier | Pete Sampras | Andre Agassi | Thomas Muster | Marcelo Ríos | Carlos Moyà | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | Patrick Rafter | Marat Safin | Gustavo Kuerten | Lleyton Hewitt | Juan Carlos Ferrero | Andy Roddick | Roger Federer |
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* Open Era • (1969) Rod Laver • (1970) Arthur Ashe • (1971-72) Ken Rosewall • (1973) John Newcombe • (1974) Jimmy Connors • (1975) John Newcombe • (1976) Mark Edmondson • (1977 [Jan]) Roscoe Tanner • (1977 [Dec]) Vitas Gerulaitis • (1978-79) Guillermo Vilas • (1980) Brian Teacher • (1981-82) Johan Kriek • (1983-84) Mats Wilander • (1985) Stefan Edberg • (1986) No competition • (1987) Stefan Edberg • (1988) Mats Wilander • (1989-90) Ivan Lendl • (1991) Boris Becker (1992-93) Jim Courier • (1994) Pete Sampras • (1995) Andre Agassi • (1996) Boris Becker • (1997) Pete Sampras • (1998) Petr Korda • (1999) Yevgeny Kafelnikov • (2000-01) Andre Agassi • (2002) Thomas Johansson • (2003) Andre Agassi • (2004) Roger Federer • (2005) Marat Safin • (2006-07) Roger Federer |
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* Open Era • (1968) Arthur Ashe • (1969) Rod Laver • (1970) Ken Rosewall • (1971) Stan Smith • (1972) Ilie Năstase • (1973) John Newcombe • (1974) Jimmy Connors • (1975) Manuel Orantes • (1976) Jimmy Connors • (1977) Guillermo Vilas • (1978) Jimmy Connors • (1979–81) John McEnroe • (1982–83) Jimmy Connors • (1984) John McEnroe • (1985–87) Ivan Lendl • (1988) Mats Wilander • (1989) Boris Becker • (1990) Pete Sampras • (1991–92) Stefan Edberg • (1993) Pete Sampras • (1994) Andre Agassi • (1995–96) Pete Sampras • (1997–98) Patrick Rafter • (1999) Andre Agassi • (2000) Marat Safin • (2001) Lleyton Hewitt • (2002) Pete Sampras • (2003) Andy Roddick • (2004–07) Roger Federer |
