I am such a tennis jinx!
Just when I was about to show a greater amount of interest in Marat Safin, he fantastically falters out of a promising spell, and finally contemplate about throwing in the towel.
Technically I am still a tennis novice (started in the middle of ‘06), so I wasn’t able to catch Safin at his heyday. But upon seeing the loyal gaga-ness of the folks making the rounds in PEx about this talented, fiery, good-looking dude (with all the shirtless pictures and the misconstrued quips to back it up); Jessica Zafra’s fanatical obsession and having named a couple of cats after him; and being the towering older brother of Dinara Safina, who is my current favorite female player (since she defeated Sharap at Roland Garros, she has been outstanding! Wouldn’t be surprised if she takes over Jelena.)
Safin turned pro in 1997, working his way until the entire tennis world (or the world, for its matter) took notice when he defeated Pete Sampras in the US Open in 2000. He had a brief stint as World Number One (just 9 weeks) during that year. He has been in and out since, winning only another Grand Slam in 2005 at Australia, and having an overall career record of just 15 titles. He hasn’t landed a win for the past three years.
According to Wiki: “Safin is known for his emotional outbursts during matches, and has smashed numerous rackets. Safin is estimated to have smashed 48 racquets in 1999. As of 2005, Safin estimated that he has broken about 300. He frequently verbally berates himself for lost points, speaking in the languages of Russian, Spanish and English. He has also had arguments with the chair umpires.”
“Safin’s game is based around his physical size and strength, which he uses to dominate his opponents with big and deep strokes. 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 has been described as Safin’s ultimate weakness, since 2005. However, when Safin is mentally focused, he possesses a very powerful all-round game that is capable of defeating the best players in the world on virtually any surface. Many people note his powerful two-handed backhand to be his best shot, seeing as he can unleash lethal backhands both cross-court and down-the-line.”
So there, my curiosity has been amply disturbed but aroused. After a long dry season of injuries and other self-inflicted abuse, the last thing I heard was that he made it as far as the Wimbledon semis this year (and bowing out to… The Fed). But it took me this long to finally check him out… so the first thing I did was to read a 2005 GQ article in The Safinator yesterday afternoon, prepping myself for potential adoration. And the next… I drop by the Yahoo! Tennis page that night and the headline news of him quitting boggled the eyeballs out of my sockets! Am I that unlucky to tennis players — first Federer, now him? Thankfully Roger bounced back magnificently, and is in the running for another title at the yearending Tennis Masters Cup (starting November 9). But please, not when I’m about to flail my arms over hot hot Marat! (That also explains my sudden blind fascination for Dr. McSteamy from “Grey’s Anatomy”.) … How could he????
To add insult to injury, fate programmed me to catch the infamous match over Juan Monaco today. That could be the first and last I’ll ever see of him. So I watch and take notice of his ‘flawed genius’. Beyond the emotional flareups, the first set was a lost cause. Monaco looked like a Jonas Brother toting a racquet — well, I got distracted by the hair. The second set was more challenging — seeing him win a little was a consolation — at least he put up a good fight. My favorite moments (in the second set, of course) were when he was able to hit the aces one after the other; engaging Monaco in a volley and then catch him unaware by finishing it off with a winner; the way he surged to the net and polished a neat drop (btw, my favorite kind of shot). These instances alone say a lot about what he still can do.
Reading the GQ article, I encountered that he is a ‘true perfectionist’. Winning means nothing to him, he only focuses on his mistakes (hence the impassioned fury and the racquet-smashing). I guess this mindset can only make him fall further back. So what if you lost 6-0? That you’re 28 and your time is almost up? It’s not the end of everything, Marat! From what I learned from failing, learning from it gives you twice the winning edge. But I’m sure you know that. Just don’t be hard on yourself — I’m pretty sure the best is yet to come, so DON’T YOU GIVE UP!!!
