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10/15/09 10:25 AM | Johan Lindahl
Departing Marat Safin won't have the overly long ATP season to worry with when he leaves the game next month in retirement. But the Russian said that he first brought up the issue five years ago with no success.
This week in Shanghai has seen a revival of the annual complaint about the grueling nature of the 11-month campaign, with Andy Roddick leading the verbal charge this time.
The American ironically exited a day later when he pulled up short with a knee injury. US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro also failed to finish in his second disastrous showing since New York, with the Argentine heading home and hoping to resume in a few weeks after wrist tendinitis.
Rafael Nadal also lent his support - somewhat diluted by the fact that the player who faces a Davis Cup final the first week of December has also signed on for a 250,000-dollar exhibition from New Year's eve in Abu Dhabi.
Roger Federer and Andy Murray didn't travel to Shanghai, with the Swiss finding a way to rest for six weeks before starting the last three weeks of his season at home in Basel from November 2.
All the drama is old news to Safin. "In 2004 we had this discussion in Olympic Games with Roddick," the two-time Grand Slam winner said. "(Players) were blaming me that I'm playing too much. I was saying that the season is too long. We should make it shorter. And the guys, they jumped on me, like I was the one who was wrong.
"So look at all of them - everybody is falling apart. Everybody is getting injured left and right, and everybody is complaining the season is long. It takes six years to realize that something is wrong?
"It's a beautiful sport, so why to kill the players and making the calendar basically playing 12 months of the year?"
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I love Marat. He's a lot smarter than people give him credit for.
He will be missed.
mara2 , 10/15/09 11:44 PM