As Marat Safin waved his final goodbye’s to the tennis world it left us with the conundrum of whether he could have achieved more.The Russia no doubt had the ability to produce exceptional performances seeing him to two grand slams titles and hold the number one spot in the world in 2000. However he had more low points on the court and always seemed to be having more of battle with himself in matches as he struggled with his temperament, as was one who blew hot and cold.
In some ways though, his unpredictability has added to his character on the tour, as he was often considered as the dangerous floater many draws. But it still leaves us wondering that if he had be more focus and channelled his fieriness in a positive way then the former no.1 may well have made more of an imprint on the game.
‘Supernova’
September 11th may be a date lived long in the world history for the wrong reasons but this was also the date a year earlier when a 20 year old Safin shook the world when he clained the US Open title by defeating the legendry Pete Sampras in the three dominating sets. The 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory sent the message to the tennis world that a new star had arrived as he went to the top of the word rankings shortly after.
However the star was to become more of a supernova as he briefly outshines the rest of the field before imploding. This experience was what ultimately will be labelled to the temperamental Russian due to his hot and cold attitude on court that saw him produce many disappointing performances. Also injuries played a part as he struggle to stay in consistent shape over the gruelling calendar.
It was not until 2005 that the star reappeared demonstrating his precocious talents once again. Under the guidance of his new coach Peter Lundgren saw a more focussed Safin determined to capture the Australian Open title. During the tournament he demonstrated his ability to tear apart the field with his ferocious ground strokes going on to defeat Lleyton Hewitt in the final. However his best performance came in the semi final against Roger Federer defeating him in a trilling five set 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 9-7 in which saw him save a match point in the fourth.
‘Rock and Roller’
Inconsistency then crept back into his game plus being hampered by continual injuries. The rock and roll life style also didn’t help his game as he enjoyed the high life; having parties, spending money and going out with many glamorous women.
Speaking in 2007 he said: "But I have no family with me, I have no girlfriends, I have no boyfriends and I have no kids so I never have dinner at home. I'm always eating with my friends at a restaurant, so it's a special life and I'm enjoying it." Thus demonstrating a man that lived life to the full, celebrating every day as comes. However if this had been generated more towards his tennis he could have had more to be celebrate.
By Geoff Berkeley
Pic by Burntfilm
