Marat Safin

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Marat Safin
Country Russia
Residence Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date of birth January 27, 1980 (1980-01-27) (age 28)
Place of birth Moscow, Soviet Union
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 88 kg (190 lb)[1]
Turned pro 1997
Plays Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money US$13,238,692
Singles
Career record: 385 - 230
Career titles: 15
Highest ranking: No. 1 (November 20, 2000)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open W (2005)
French Open SF (2002)
Wimbledon QF (2001)
US Open W (2000)
Doubles
Career record: 88-102
Career titles: 2
Highest ranking: No. 71 (April 22, 2002)

Infobox last updated on: May 5, 2008.

Marat Mikhailovich Safin (Tatar Cyrillic: Марат Мөбин улы Сафин, Latin: Marat Möbin ulı Safin; Russian: Мара́т Миха́йлович (Муби́нович) Са́фин /mɑ.ˈrɑt.ˈsɑ.fɪn/; b. January 27, 1980) is a Russian former World No. 1 tennis player. He is of Tatar ethnicity.[2] He speaks Russian, English and Spanish.[3]

Safin began his professional career in 1997 and held the No. 1 world ranking for 9 weeks in November and December of 2000. He achieved his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 U.S. Open after defeating Pete Sampras, and later won the 2005 Australian Open defeating Lleyton Hewitt. Safin also helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Safin was born in Moscow, USSR (now Russia), to an ethnic Tatar, Muslim family and is[2][4][5][6][7] a non-practising Muslim.[7] His parents were former tennis players and coaches.[8] His younger sister is a professional tennis player Dinara Safina.[4] Safin's father managed the local Spartak Tennis Club where Safin trained in his youth alongside several tennis players, including Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva, and Anastasia Myskina.[8]

At age fourteen he moved to Valencia, Spain, to gain access to advanced tennis training programs which were not available in Russia.[9] Safin says he grew up "very fast...with no muscles" and that he moved to Spain because clay courts were "better for the knees."[9] Safin speaks fluent Spanish as a result.[10]

[edit] Tennis career

Safin started his professional career in 1997. In 1998, Safin consecutively defeated Andre Agassi and defending champion Gustavo Kuerten at the French Open.[11]

[edit] World No.1 and Grand Slam history

Safin held the No. 1 ATP ranking for 9 weeks during 2000 when he won his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, by defeating Pete Sampras in straight sets. Sampras praised him as "the tennis of the future."[4] However, a succession of injuries hindered his progress and Safin missed the majority of the season in 2003 as a result.[12]

Safin reached the final round in three more Grand Slam tournaments, all in the Australian Open in 2002, 2004, and 2005. He has cited nervousness as the reason for his loss in the 2002 event, and physical exhaustion for the 2004 loss.[13] He defeated home-country favorite Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 finals to secure his second Grand Slam in five years. En route to this final, he defeated top-ranked Roger Federer in a five-set semi-final match.[14] After ending Federer's 26-match winning streak over top-10 players, Safin described the match as "a brain fight."[15]

His best result at the Wimbledon is reaching the quarterfinals in 2001, often losing in the first or second rounds. In 2002, he reached the semifinals of the French Open, his best performance there to date.

[edit] Masters' Series

Safin has won five ATP Tennis Masters Series titles during his career. His first was in 2000 when he won the title in Toronto, Canada. He holds a record-tying three (2000, 2002, and 2004) wins in Paris, France, and one in 2004 in Madrid, Spain.

[edit] Tennis Masters' Cup

In 2004, Safin reached the Semifinal of the Tennis Masters' Cup in Houston, where he was defeated by Roger Federer, 6–3, 7–6(18). The second-set tiebreak was the third tiebreak of the score 20-18 in the Open Era. Safin also reached the semifinals in 2000.

[edit] Davis Cup

Marat Safin helped Russia achieve its first Davis Cup victory in 2002, with a 3–2 tie-breaking win against France in the final round at the Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy. His Russian team included Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mikhail Youzhny, Andrei Stoliarov, and team captain Shamil Tarpischev.[16] The team made Davis Cup history by being the second to win the event after losing the doubles tie-breaker, and becoming the first team to win a (live-televised) five-set finals match by coming back from a two-set deficit. Safin also helped Russia to win the Davis Cup in 2006. After a straight sets defeat by David Nalbandian in his first match, his doubles victory (partnering Dmitry Tursunov) against Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri and singles victory against Jose Acasuso drove Russia to victory.

[edit] 2005

After winning the 2005 Australian Open, Safin attributed his recent revival and more consistent performance to the calming presence of his new coach Peter Lundgren, saying that "I never believed in myself before at all, until I started to work with him." Lundgren had been Federer's coach, until parting ways at the end of 2003; Safin hired Lundgren the following year. He was later defeated in the early rounds of each of the seven tournaments he played between the Australian Open and the French Open. In June 2005, shortly after his unsuccessful French Open campaign, Safin made a surprise finals appearance at the Wimbledon tune-up tournament in Halle on grass. He lost the final narrowly to the defending champion, Roger Federer.

[edit] 2006

Although a serious knee-injury hampered Safin's progression and rankings within the ATP (he missed the 2005 US Open and 2006 Australian Open), Safin made appearances at the 2006 ATP Masters tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg.

On August 17, 2006, after a disappointing year during which Safin suffered injuries and his ranking plummeted to as low as 104, Safin temporarily parted ways with coach Peter Lundgren. [17]

At the 2006 US Open, Safin defeated David Nalbandian, who was then World #4, in the 2nd Round in a 5th Set tiebreaker, but lost at the 4th Round to former world #2 Tommy Haas, also on a 5th set tiebreaker.

Safin helped Russia beat the USA 3–2 to gain a place in the finals in December 2006, and secondly with a good run at the start of the indoor season the Thailand Open where he was narrowly edged out by #7 seed, James Blake.

On October 14, 2006, Safin made it to his first final in a year-and-a-half at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the first all Russian final at that event, losing to Nikolay Davydenko.

On December 3, 2006, Safin defeated Jose Acasuso 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 7–6 (5) in the 5th rubber of the 2006 Davis Cup, winning the cup for Russia. He had previously lost 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 to David Nalbandian in his first match. In the doubles match, he teamed with Dmitry Tursunov to win the doubles match against Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in straight sets.

[edit] 2007

Safin practicing at the 2007 US Open
Safin practicing at the 2007 US Open

Safin played no warm-up tournaments in the run up to the Australian Open. As Safin was forced to miss the tournament in 2006 due to injury, 2007 was his first Australian Open since he captured the title in 2005. Safin lost against sixth seed Andy Roddick in the third round match by 6–7, 6–2, 4–6, 6–7 in a grueling 3-hour match. Roddick commented after the match, "With Marat you know you are going to get an emotional roller-coaster. You just have to try and focus on yourself and I was able to do that tonight. [18]

In April, Marat won the deciding quarter-final Davis Cup rubber against France, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets.[19]

Safin reached the third round at Wimbledon, before falling to the defending champion Roger Federer.[20] In July, Safin announced that he and his coach Alexander Volkov were parting and that his new coach would be former pro Hernán Gumy.

Safin won the doubles title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in October, his first ATP-level title since the 2005 Australian Open. [21]

[edit] 2008

Safin prepared for the Australian Open at the invitational exhibition tournament, the AAMI Kooyong Classic in Melbourne. Other players in the field were Roddick, Fernando Gonzalez, Nikolay Davydenko, Marcos Baghdatis, Ivan Ljubičić and Andy Murray. Safin was victorious in his opening game, defeating Andy Murray 6–1 6–4 before falling to defeat in his second match to Andy Roddick 3–6 3–6. As stated on Safin's official website, no decision had been made as to what tournaments Marat would play after the Australian Open - that it will be decided by his ranking at the end of the Open. At the 3rd place play-off at Kooyong 2008, Safin rebounded from the Roddick loss and overpowered last year's Australian Open runner up Fernando Gonzalez winning the match 6–3, 6–3. Safin won his first round match at the Australian Open against Ernests Gulbis in straight sets - 6/0 6/4 7/6 (2). He was ousted in the 2nd round after a grueling 5 set match against Baghdatis - 4–6 4–6 6–2 6–3 2–6.[22]

In February, Safin was granted wildcards into the tournaments at Memphis and Las Vegas. In Memphis, he was edged out by his 2002 Australian Open opponent, Thomas Johansson, 7–6 7–6 in the first round. In Las Vegas he was defeated by Lleyton Hewitt during the semi-finals round in 2007 7–5, 6–1.[23][24] Safin was defeated by Hewitt once again by 6–2 6–1 in 58 minutes.[25]

In March, Safin lost in the first round of Indian Wells and Miami, to Jurgen Melzer and qualifier Bobby Reynolds respectively. In the Davis Cup between Russia and the Czech Republic, Safin defeated world no 9 Tomáš Berdych in a five set encounter, after being two sets down, 6–7 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4. This was the first time in his career that he has come back to win a match after being down 2 sets. This was also the first time Safin had beaten a top 10 player since US Open 2006. Safin said that he hoped that this would be a turnaround in his form.

Safin's next tournament was in Valencia. He defeated former World No. 1 and number 4 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 5-7 6-4. He played Dutch teenager Robin Haase in the next round. He won the first set 6-2 and was up 4-2 in the 2nd set. However, Haase broke back to take it to a tiebreak. Safin had 4 match points, including one on his serve, but lost this tiebreak, and eventually the match.

In the Monte Carlo Masters, Safin defeated Xavier Malisse 6-3 6-2, but then lost to world number 5 David Ferrer 6-2 6-3.

He then entered the 2008 BMW Open in Munich, Germany, where his first round opponent was Carlos Berlocq. Safin won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In the second round he edged out Michael Berrer 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3, but lost to Fernando Gonzalez 7-5, 6-3 in his first quarterfinal of the year, and the first since June of 2007 at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington. D.C.[26][27]

Safin also entered the 2008 French Open but was eliminated in Round 2 by countryman and No. 4 seed Nikolai Davydenko in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2.

[edit] Characteristics

Safin is known for his emotional outbursts during matches, and has smashed numerous rackets.[28][29][30] Safin is estimated to have smashed 48 racquets in 1999.[30]

He frequently verbally berates himself for lost points, speaking in the languages of Russian, Spanish and English. He is also known for having arguments with the chair umpires.

[edit] Playing style

Safin's game is based around his physical size and strength to outplay his opponents generally with big strokes and pace. Although Safin is 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) tall, he has excellent footwork and footspeed on all surfaces unlike other players of his height. Lack of consistency and focus has been described as Safin's weakness.[31][32][33][34] However when Safin is mentally fit, he possesses a very powerful all-round game that is capable of defeating most opponents on virtually any surface. Although Safin is a big hitter from both wings, a big server and a solid volleyer, he considers grass his least favorite surface which has been generally dominated by players who have playing styles similar to Safin.[35][9] Safin's best performance at the Wimbledon was reaching the quarterfinals in 2001. Safin dismissed his performance in 2001 as a result of luck.[36] Safin says that "It's difficult to [break serve]. It's difficult to play off the baseline because [of] a lot of bad bounces."[36]

[edit] Equipment

Marat Safin officially uses the Head Microgel Prestige mid-size tennis racquet. Safin won his first Grand Slam, the US Open, in 2000, where he used the Head Prestige Classic 600. A year later Safin signed with Dunlop and played with the Dunlop 200MG. In 2002, Safin reverted back to using the Head Prestige Classic 600 and has played with the PC600 ever since, although painted as the following racquets purely for promotional purposes (including the Dunlop), respectively: iPrestige, LiquidMetal Prestige, the Flexpoint Prestige, and currently the Microgel Prestige.[37]

His racquets used to be strung using Babolat VS Natural Team Gut 17L gauge. He now uses a 'hybrid' of Babolat VS Team Gut 17L (crosses) and Luxilon ALU-Power Rough 16L (mains) strung at about 62 lbs and 64 lbs respectively.[38] His clothing and shoe sponsor has been Adidas for the last eight years.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals (4)

[edit] Wins (2)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2000 U.S. Open Flag of the United States Pete Sampras 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
2005 Australian Open Flag of Australia Lleyton Hewitt 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4

[edit] Runner-ups (2)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2002 Australian Open Flag of Sweden Thomas Johansson 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6
2004 Australian Open Flag of Switzerland Roger Federer 7–6, 6–4, 6–2

[edit] Career finals

[edit] Singles (17)

[edit] Wins (15)
Legend
Grand Slam (2)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (5)
ATP Tour (8)
Titles by Surface
Hard (10)
Clay (2)
Grass (0)
Carpet (3)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 23 August 1999 Boston, USA Hard Flag of the United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 6–4, 7–6(11)
2. 24 April 2000 Barcelona, Spain Clay Flag of Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–3, 6–3, 6–4
3. 1 May 2000 Mallorca, Spain Clay Flag of Sweden Mikael Tillström 6–4, 6–3
4. 31 July 2000 Toronto, Canada Hard Flag of Israel Harel Levy 6–2, 6–3
5. 28 August 2000 U.S. Open, New York, USA Hard Flag of the United States Pete Sampras 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
6. 11 September 2000 Tashkent, Uzbekistan Hard Flag of Italy Davide Sanguinetti 6–3, 6–4
7. 6 November 2000 St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) Flag of Slovakia Dominik Hrbatý 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
8. 13 November 2000 Paris, France Carpet (i) Flag of Australia Mark Philippoussis 3–6, 7–6(7), 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(8)
9. 10 September 2001 Tashkent, Uzbekistan Hard Flag of Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–2, 6–2
10. 22 October 2001 St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) Flag of Germany Rainer Schüttler 3–6, 6–3, 6–3
11. 28 October 2002 Paris, France Carpet (i) Flag of Australia Lleyton Hewitt 7–6(4), 6–0, 6–4
12. 13 September 2004 Beijing, China Hard Flag of Russia Mikhail Youzhny 7–6(4), 7–5
13. 18 October 2004 Madrid, Spain Hard (i) Flag of Argentina David Nalbandian 6–2, 6–4, 6–3
14. 1 November 2004 Paris, France Carpet (i) Flag of the Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek 6–3, 7–6(5), 6–3
15. 17 January 2005 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard Flag of Australia Lleyton Hewitt 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4

[edit] Runner-ups (11)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 7 November, 1999 Paris, France Carpet (i) Flag of the United States Andre Agassi 7–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4
2. 21 May, 2000 Hamburg, Germany Clay Flag of Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6
3. 20 August, 2000 Indianapolis, USA Hard Flag of Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 3–6, 7–6, 7–6
4. 4 February, 2001 Dubai, UAE Hard Flag of Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–2, 6–3
5. 27 January, 2002 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard Flag of Sweden Thomas Johansson 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6
6. 19 May, 2002 Hamburg, Germany Clay Flag of Switzerland Roger Federer 6–1, 6–3, 6–4
7. 27 April, 2003 Barcelona, Spain Clay Flag of Spain Carlos Moyà 5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 3–0 retired
8. 1 February, 2004 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard Flag of Switzerland Roger Federer 7–6, 6–4, 6–2
9. 18 April, 2004 Estoril, Portugal Clay Flag of Argentina Juan Ignacio Chela 6–7, 6–3, 6–3
10. 12 June, 2005 Halle, Germany Grass Flag of Switzerland Roger Federer 6–4, 6–7, 6–4
11. 9 October, 2006 Moscow, Russia Carpet Flag of Russia Nikolay Davydenko 6–4, 5–7, 6–4

[edit] Doubles

[edit] Wins (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. 2001 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Flag of Switzerland Roger Federer Flag of Australia Michael Hill / Flag of the United States Jeff Tarango 0–1, RET.
2. 2007 Moscow, Russia Carpet Flag of Russia Dmitry Tursunov Flag of the Czech Republic Tomáš Cibulec / Flag of Croatia Lovro Zovko 6–4, 6–2

[edit] Runner-ups (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score
1. 1999 Moscow, Russia Carpet Flag of Ukraine Andrei Medvedev Flag of the United States Justin Gimelstob / Flag of the Czech Republic Daniel Vacek 6–2, 6–1
2. 2001 St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) Flag of Georgia (country) Irakli Labadze Flag of Russia Denis Golovanov / Flag of Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7–5, 6–4
3. 2002 St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) Flag of Georgia (country) Irakli Labadze Flag of South Africa David Adams / Flag of the United States Jared Palmer 7–6, 6–3
4. 2005 Halle, Germany Grass Flag of Sweden Joachim Johansson Flag of Switzerland Yves Allegro / Flag of Switzerland Roger Federer 7–5, 6–7, 6–3

[edit] Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through the 2008 French Open.

Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Career SR Career win-loss
Australian Open A A 3R 1R 4R F 3R F W A 3R 2R 1 / 9 29-7
French Open A 4R 4R QF 3R SF A 4R 4R 1R 2R 2R 0 / 10 25-10
Wimbledon A 1R A 2R QF 2R A 1R 3R 2R 3R 0 / 7 9–7
U.S. Open A 4R 2R W SF 2R A 1R A 4R 2R 1 / 8 21-7
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 3 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 2 2 / 35 N/A
Grand Slam Win-Loss1 0-0 6-3 6-3 12-3 14-4 13-4 2-0 9-4 12-2 4-3 6-4 2-2 N/A 86-32
Tennis Masters Cup A A A SF A RR A SF A A A 0 / 3 4–7
ATP Masters Series1
Indian Wells Masters A A 3R 2R 1R 3R 3R 3R 3R 4R 2R 1R 0 / 10 12-10
Miami Masters A A 4R 2R 2R QF 2R 2R 3R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 10 6–10
Monte Carlo Masters A A 1R 1R 1R QF A SF 3R 1R 2R 2R 0 / 9 11-9
Rome Masters A A 2R 2R 2R 2R A 3R 2R 2R 2R 1R 0 / 9 9–9
Hamburg Masters A A 2R F 2R F A 3R 2R 1R 2R 3R 0 / 9 19-9
Canada Masters A A A W 1R QF A 1R A 1R 2R 1 / 6 10-5
Cincinnati Masters A A 1R 3R 1R 1R A QF QF 1R 1R 0 / 8 8–8
Madrid Masters (Stuttgart) A A 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R W A QF 1R 1 / 8 10-7
Paris Masters A A F W 3R W A W A QF A 3 / 6 23-3
Total Titles 0 0 1 7 2 1 0 3 1 0 0 N/A 15
Overall Win-Loss 0-1 17-18 39-32 73-27 45-27 56-26 12-11 52-23 27-11 35-25 13-11 N/A 379-221
Year End Ranking 203 49 23 2 11 3 77 4 12 26 58 N/A N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

1The win and loss totals do not include walkovers.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Marat Safin. ATP Profile. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  2. ^ a b Wines, Michael. "Tennis Star Puts Russia In Heaven", The New York Times, 2000-09-12. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  3. ^ Wertheim, Jon. "The Big Breakthrough", CNN. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  4. ^ a b c Lieber, Jill. "Safin tries to hold serve with emotions, career", USA Today, 2005-04-27. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  5. ^ AUSTRALIAN OPEN – Interview with Marat Safin. Ausopen.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ a b "An Interview With Marat Safin", Future Tennis Stars, 2003-03-12. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  8. ^ a b Biography. Hunky Male Celebs. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
  9. ^ a b c Roberts, John. "Why Safin looks green on grass", The Independent, 2001-06-25. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  10. ^ Safin joins Spanish party
  11. ^ U.S. OPEN: NOTEBOOK; After Teen-Agers Play, Talk Is of Top 10 Futures
  12. ^ Lyon, Karen. "Safin out with sore wrist", The Age, 2003-01-19. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  13. ^ Federer toys with Safin in Australian Open final
  14. ^ Williams, Daniel. "Australian Open Preview", Time, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  15. ^ Safin wrecks Federer's 26-match win streak in semis
  16. ^ Alvanipour, Sarah. "Safin Gets Serious – Almost", Tennis magazine, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  17. ^ Safin to take a break from coach
  18. ^ Roddick pays tribute to Connors. Reuters. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  19. ^ Safin Beats France in Davis Cup Quaterfinals Despite Foot Injury. Russianspy. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  20. ^ The Championships, Wimbledon 2007 draws. IBM Corp.. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  21. ^ 2007 Doubles activity. ATP Tennis. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  22. ^ Newmanat, Paul. "Baghdatis too lean and mean for Safin", The Independent, 2008-01-18. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. 
  23. ^ Drucker, Joel. "Hewitt's talents underappreciated but effective", ESPN, 2008-03-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. 
  24. ^ Butler, Jordan. "First-Rate First-Round: Hewitt, Safin meet in Vegas", TENNIS Magazine, 2008-03-03. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. 
  25. ^ Hewitt thrashes struggling Safin
  26. ^ 2008 BMW Open Singles Draw
  27. ^ Association of Tennis Professionals and BMW Open. "El Aynaoui, Safin Find Form for QF Berths", 20008-05-01. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. (English) 
  28. ^ "Safin on mooning crowd: 'What's bad about it?'", ESPN, 2004-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  29. ^ Clarke, Liz (2004-05-29). Safin Drops a Shot, And Then His Pants. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  30. ^ a b Safin could be a Wimbledon smash. BBC (2000-06-22). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  31. ^ Roberts, Selena. "Sports of The Times; Safin Goes From Earth To the Moon", The New York Times, 2004-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 
  32. ^ Bierley, Steve (2008-06-30). Federer steps up a level to dismiss brittle Safin with ominous ease. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  33. ^ Robbins, Liz (2000-09-08). U.S. OPEN; Recovery Slow, But Martin Gains Semis. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  34. ^ ATP Tour - Ilie in the Desert
  35. ^ Clarey, Christopher (2005-06-22). Marat Safin Finally Finds His Feet on Grass at Wimbledon. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  36. ^ a b Safin Finds Splendor on the Grass
  37. ^ The tennis racket
  38. ^ Statistics: Personal details

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Pete Sampras
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten
World No. 1
November 20, 2000 - December 3, 2000
January 29, 2001 - February 25, 2001
April 2, 2001 - April 22, 2001
Succeeded by
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten
Awards
Preceded by
Julián Alonso
ATP Newcomer of the Year
1998
Succeeded by
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Preceded by
Nicolás Lapentti
ATP Most Improved Player
2000
Succeeded by
Goran Ivanišević
Preceded by
Sergio García
Laureus World Newcomer of the Year
2001
Succeeded by
Juan Pablo Montoya


Persondata
NAME Safin, Marat Mikhailovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Сафин, Марат Михайлович; Marat Mubin ulı Safin
SHORT DESCRIPTION Russian tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow, Soviet Union
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH