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Safin's
confidence is the key
by Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated
Monday February 04, 2002
Marat Safin is at once perhaps the most entertaining and
most infuriating player to watch. He can dominate (see the 2000
U.S. Open) or disappear (last week's Australian Open final),
but the key to his success, he tells SI's Jon Wertheim, is his
confidence. Attractive women help, too.
We'll grant you that it's no small condition. But if Marat Safin
put his mind to it, there's little doubt he could be the best
player in tennis today. He has the requisite booming serve.
His groundstrokes are smooth, efficient -- almost elegant --
but they yield heat-seeking missiles. He's an above-average
athlete. He plays well on all surfaces and, having just turned
22, he is entering his prime years. Safin's problem -- and he'll
be the first to admit this -- is that his confidence and his
focus are like tenants in a time share. Sometimes they're around.
Other times, they'll go months without making an appearance.
In Australia, Safin was well on his way to a second Grand Slam
title, euthanizing Pete Sampras in the Round of 16, gladly accepting
Wayne Ferreira's retirement in the quarters, and coming back
after a fortuitous rain delay to beat Tommy Haas in a five-set
semifinal. Then he was unable to summon his focus in the final
and failed to put up much resistance against Thomas Johansson,
a player Safin ought to have beaten with relative ease. As personable
and nonchalant in defeat as he was in victory, Safin shrugged
off the loss, thanked his "family" of attractive Models,
Inc. types seated in his box, and made plans for the evening.
"I reach the final of a Grand Slam and sure, it's disappointing
not to win, but what am I supposed to do? Lock myself in a room
and cry?" he asks. "I don't live my life like that.
I love tennis, I want to be No. 1, but it's just a game."
The most laid-back player in tennis recently took time to chat
with CNNSI.com.
CNNSI.com: First things first. What's the story with the entourage?
Safin: I need all the support I can get, my friend.
CNNSI.com: Fair enough. Six months ago, you were in the middle
of a terrible slump. In Indianapolis, I asked you what was wrong
and you said it was all a matter of confidence. "Anyone
has a chance against me when my confidence is so low,"
you said. Now you're playing as well as ever. Just confidence?
Safin: Pretty much.
CNNSI.com: So where'd you find it?
Safin: It's like love. When you look too hard, you don't find
it. When you let it happen naturally, it comes. I played badly
for so long, then I played well in Indianapolis, made semifinals
of the U.S. Open, and slowly, slowly it comes back.
CNNSI.com: How does a guy like you, a Grand Slam champion who
has proven he can play at the highest level, let his confidence
get so low?
Safin: [Points to head.] Losing can make you a little crazy.
Then you start to doubt and it goes from there. People see us
hitting balls for a few hours but they don't realize how tough
tennis is. [Points to head again.]
CNNSI.com: You're a popular guy in the locker room. Who's your
best friend out here?
Safin: Everybody. Everybody's great. We all get along. We go
out to dinner or the bars, I get along with everyone. That's
the thing with men's tennis. We compete. Then we leave the court
and we are friends. We go to eat, we go to bars. Just because
I play you in a match, I have to hate you? No.
CNNSI.com: Without naming names, there are some top players
who clearly resent being celebrities and wish they were more
anonymous. It seems like you don't mind being famous and all
that comes with it. True?
Safin: I want to be happy, to enjoy, that's the most important
thing. I don't want to say that I like being famous or that
I look for it, but people recognize me or whatever, why would
I not be nice to them? We have a good life here. If part of
that means that I am recognized or people want my autograph,
it's OK.
CNNSI.com: How much pressure do you younger guys feel to boost
the popularity of men's tennis?
Safin: People are saying, 'Tennis is going down.' Of course
it's going down because new people are coming up and no one
knows us. But we'll keep winning, we'll get promoted and in
one or two more years, it will be great. Five, six, seven years
ago, it was Sampras-Agassi, Agassi-Sampras, Sampras-Agassi and
no one else. Now I think there a lot of good players -- Lleyton
Hewitt, Roger Federer, Guga, Ferrero -- and we could have many
good matches.
CNNSI.com: You're willing to go along with it, the promotion?
Safin: Sure, I want to make tennis big again.
CNNSI.com: So you were in Australia with three guys wearing
badges that said "Marat Safin: Coach" but your real
coach, Mats Wilander, was in Idaho. What's up with that?
Safin: I just need somebody to motivate me. I need someone I
will feel comfortable with who will make me work to win. For
me, the motivation is the most important thing. Sure, a coach
can make suggestions or tell me that I have a mistake in my
grip or something, but it's mostly feeling comfortable that's
important to me.
CNNSI.com: You've been saving your energy and only practicing
for 45 minutes or so a day. What else do you do all day?
Safin: I watch TV, go to restaurants. I saw Ocean's Eleven.
That was very good. Shallow Hal. That was the worst I ever saw.
Terrible, horrible, disgusting movie. I think the director never
watched it after he finished filming. Stupid movie.
CNNSI.com: So what lessons have you learned from the past to
sustain this level of tennis and confidence?
Safin: You need to feel a little bit scared. Not feel fear,
but know that anyone can beat you, that it's not like you can
just go to the court and know you're going to win. You have
to work. I know that confidence is fragile so I will try to
hold it for a long time.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis
for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis
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