Article

  • Safin Back in the Win Column

    4/16/08 6:50 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - What a difference a few weeks make. Since falling in the fist-round of Miami’s Sony Ericson Open for his fifth consecutive ATP loss, Marat Safin has scored a huge Davis Cup win over Tomas Berdych and now has upset Juan Carlos Ferrero in Valencia.

    Don’t count out Marat Safin just yet.

    Just two weeks ago, after losing to Bobby Reynolds in the first round of the Masters Series Miami, Safin was facing retirement questions. The entertaining Russian is always good for a few soundbytes, and it was no different when he faced speculation that this could be the end.

    “If I was tired, I would have stopped a long time ago,” Safin said. “I'm trying, and it doesn't come out my way. But that doesn't mean that I have to stop because I'm not winning matches. I enjoy what I'm doing. I have plenty of cash to do what I want to do, so what I want to do is play tennis.”

    Suddenly, in a span of five days, he has really started playing tennis. On Friday he came back from two sets down to stun world No. 9 and Miami semifinalist Tomas Berdych in a Davis Cup quarterfinal thriller. In the first round of this week’s event in Valencia, Spain, Safin took out 19th-ranked and fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero. That means after going almost three months without winning a single match, Safin has defeated two players in the top 20 of the ATP rankings (including one in the top 10) in a span of less than one week.

    Safin’s win over Ferrero signals a promising start to the partnership between him and temporary coach Marc Rosset. Regular coach Hernan Gumy is back in Argentina to be with his wife, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy. “Marc Rosset was very kind to offer to accompany me in the next few events,” Safin said. “I am very grateful to him and it looks like he will help me out until Gumy comes back.”

    Rosset, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world, will work with Safin until Gumy returns, which is expected to be sometime next month in either Rome or Hamburg.

    For now, Safin is doing just fine with Rosset and he’s feeling fine about his life in tennis. “I think that I have done a lot in tennis from a long career,” Safin explained. “Don’t forget I started at a very young age and have been travelling for over 10 years and I am paying the price now. I have decided to really take all the pressure from me, to keep on playing for as long as I am still enjoying it and not to look at the rankings or set myself too high a goal.”

    After such a dismal stretch, Safin is right that his current goals should involve nothing more than winning one match at a time. In that regard, he is off to a flying start in Valencia.

Tell a friend »

Comments


Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.
Username:

Password: