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follow tough times for Safin |
The current game's newest men's champion and winningest men's
champion today are on their ways home. Marat Safin, following
a day-after trophy photo shoot at New York City's Russian Tea
Room, will fly back to Moscow to celebrate his U.S. Open victory.
And Pete Sampras, a decade after he won his first of 13 Grand
Slams, will head home to Los Angeles to prepare for his wedding.
These were the last two of 128 men who were still standing when
Sunday's final match arrived. For on-lookers that fact may not
have been surprising: Safin is one of the rising stars featured
in the ATP Tour's 'New Balls, Please' campaign, and Sampras
has been called the greatest champion of his time. But for the
players personally, it's been a tumultuous year that has been
capped with triumph after struggle.
Marat Safin, 20
The Moscow native has been surrounded by the game since his
first day. Both parents are athletes and his mother, who played
at Roland Garros, now coaches his sister Dinara. As a youngster
Safin enjoyed playing ice hockey, but favored tennis. His parents
secured him a sponsor and, at age 14, shipped him to Spain for
specialized instruction that ultimately shaped his raw talent
into the hearty, patient and strong play exhibited by clay-court
stalwarts.
Safin -- who claims earning his first point in a Satellite (the
minor-minor leagues of pro tennis) was a bigger victory at the
time than the U.S. Open trophy was Sunday -- worked very hard
to climb up the rankings. He made great progress in 1997, moving
from No. 450 to No. 194. The following two years he broke the
Top 50 and the Top 25. But 2000 has been his true breakthrough,
and he hit No. 3 this week because of his New York performance.
Yet less than six months ago Safin was very discouraged.
Safin lost every match he played for the year's first five tour
events, including the Australian Open that fined him for allegedly
tanking a match. While he got to the semifinals in Copenhagen
at the end of February, March started poorly with a second-round
loss at Indian Wells.
'I think about quitting the tennis in Indian Wells,' said Safin,
who found his form on the Spanish clay where he won back-to-back
events at Barcelona and Mallorca. 'I start to play better, and
before I was thinking to stay in the Top 20. With luck, I can
finish in Top 20. Maybe I can go to Top 15.'
The summer shaped up well as he made four final showings en
route to winning the U.S. Open.
'Now I'm thinking about No. 1 in the world. I have a big chance,
so it's a big difference,' Safin said.
Safin notes two events that directly contributed to his career
success.
Three years ago his sister gave him a present -- a gold ring
-- as a present before a Challenger event in Holland.
'Actually, it's funny. When she just make me a present [of this
ring], I start to win matches, I start to play great...I was
like 400. She make me a present -- I finish the year in Top
200. I'm still with it. I'm already 6 in the world,' said Safin,
with the ring, hanging on a gold necklace, just peeking out
his Adidas shirt. 'It gives me luck.'
The other catalyst to his success wasn't about luck at all,
it was all about attitude. Finally this summer, the words of
his ex-coach and Andrei Chesnokov, his current coach-friend,
made sense.
'Just fight' was the message. 'When you're playing bad, you
have to fight -- I didn't fight,' Safin said. 'You know how
many matches I lose 6-0 in the second set? I mean, it was a
disaster. I was just making Christmas presents. I cannot do
this. So I start to fight.' It's paid off.
But the killer instinct is reserved for the court. Safin's charm
is revealed through the jokes and tipped-head, open-mouthed
laughs that spike his typically monotone Russian conversation.
It's a special time for him, turning from journeyman to a man
to beat.
And, the man who just downed Pete Sampras in a method that stumped
the No. 1, almost resembled a trusting but lost boy when standing
on court in front of 100 jockeying photographers. 'Over here,
Marat,' 'Kiss the trophy,' 'Turn to the left,' they instructed.
Now that he's had some practice posing with a heavy trophy,
the next time he'll likely handle it in the expert fashion he
handled Sampras just moments earlier.
courtesy tennis.com
by Liza Horan
New-York, Monday September 11, 2000
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