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5/12/09 6:43 PM | Johan Lindahl
The same old tennis routine is among the reasons jaded Russian Marat Safin is poised to leave the game after a decade at the end of this season.
The two-time Grand Slam winner has been going through the motions, losing four of his five matches on clay after starting last month with a Monte Carlo win over Lleyton Hewitt.
And at age 29, it's so clear the charismatic charmer has had his fill of the game and its lifestyle.
"(I do) the same thing that I've done for the last 10 years. I practice, I wake up in the morning, I get on the bus, well, the car at 11 a.m., 6 o'clock, you watch a couple of episodes of something, you read a little bit a book, you watch some soccer, you go for dinner, you look at the internet, you go to sleep," he said following Madrid loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
"It's boring, I know, but that's the routine we have to do, there's nothing else you can do, that's our job.
"For ten years, well...there were some some great moments, some bad moments, sometimes we can get out and have some fun but most of it we have to be really focused on tennis."
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One of the best 10 players in history to ever touch a Raquet...
We're going to miss you, Marat.
Emiliano55 , 5/12/09 7:31 PM
Yeah...im really going to miss him.....he is so gorgeous....and funny....im sure he'll be fine.....wish him all the best....he's still pretty young.....there's a whole lot to look forward to!!!
Good luck Safin!
MonaLisa , 5/12/09 9:12 PM
Absolutely agree with you Emiliano55. It will be a shame to see him go but it has to come. A pity he only won 2 slams, should have been more but, well...
jean , 5/13/09 4:14 PM
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Here is the entire article - original writing - not!
By Iain Rogers www.guardian.co.uk
MADRID, May 11 (Reuters) - Russian former world number one Marat Safin is looking forward to life after tennis when he retires from the professional tour at the end of the year and says he does not care how people remember him.
The 29-year-old twice grand slam champion, who is on a farewell sweep of the events he has graced since he turned professional in 1997, lost in the first round of the Madrid Open on Monday to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
"They can remember me how they want," Safin, the U.S. Open champion in 2000 and winner of the Australian Open title in 2005, told a news conference. "I don't care. I'm not really thinking about it all day."
Safin said he had not eased back on the regime he had followed during his decade at the top of the sport even though it was his final year.
"You wake up in the morning and you get on a bus or in a car at 11 o'clock," he said.
"You come back around six. You watch a couple of episodes of something on TV. You read a book. You go for dinner. You look at the internet a little bit. And then you go to sleep.
"It's boring I know but it's the routine you have to do because you can't do anything else.
"That's our job for 10 years. Some great moments, some bad moments. Sometimes we can get out and have some fun but most of the time you have to be focused on tennis.
"Life is waiting for me after," he added with a smile.
(Editing by John Mehaffey; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Rafterfan , 5/12/09 7:09 PM