The distinction of having the last word for tennis in 2006 fell to a man who, just a few weeks ago,
was quoted as saying he wanted to "write off" the year on account of his erratic form. Urged on by
former President Boris Yeltsin and 10,000 Russian fans, Marat Safin repaid captain Shamil Tarpishev's
faith in him by completing a 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6 victory over Jose Acasuso, clinching victory for Russia
over Argentina in the Davis Cup final in Moscow. The mercurial Safin bounced back from a thorough
drubbing at the hands of David Nalbandian on the opening day to partner an inspired Dmitry Tursunov
in a crucial 6-2 6-3 6-4 win over Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in the doubles and got the nod from
Tarpishev to contest the deciding rubber. "I knew from the beginning of the week that I wanted to play
all three days," Safin said. "I wouldn't have taken 'no' for an answer."
He didn't have to open his trophy cabinet in 2006, but the Russian's late season surge ensured a Top 30
finish for the seventh time in the last eight years.
Tennis featured strongly in Safin's life from a very early age. When he was a baby, his mother, Rausa
Islanova, a former Russian top 10 player, took him with her when she practised at the local Spartak
club in Moscow. The club was managed by his father, Mikhail ("Misha"). They had him swinging a racket
around from the age of six and his mother taught him the rudimentaries of the game until he left home
at 14 to train with Maria Pasqual and Rafael Mensua in Valencia. By the end of 1998, Safin was making
waves by finishing inside the Top 50 in his first full year on the Tour. The following year, he captured
his first ATP title in Boston. After an inauspicious start to 2000, Safin broke through into the big time, inflicting a straight-sets defeat on Pete Sampras to lift the US Open trophy. He also rose briefly to
the top of the world rankings later that year. His natural strength and athleticism produced an
aggressive "power" style of play which took him to three Australian Open finals (runner-up in 2002 and
2004; winner in 2005) and five Tennis Masters Series titles, but he has never fulfilled the expectations
that arose from his astonishing early success. He has been hampered by a succession of injuries and a
volatile temperamant. After winning the 2005 Australian Open, Safin attributed his improvement to the
influence of his new coach, Peter Lundgren, and vowed to achieve a greater level of consistency in his performances. Frustrating as ever, however, he fell in the early rounds of each of the seven tournaments
he played in the run-up to the French Open and then succumbed to a serious knee-injury.
Broken rackets are often scattered in his wake. "Sometimes breaking a racket helps," he explains. "You
let out all the bad energy. You have to let it out somehow. Also, I think a little drama in the final
never hurts. You have to do something to keep people interested otherwise they will stop coming to
watch tennis. You can destroy one racket. You can destroy a chair. But you can't destroy a racket and
a chair in the same match. There has to be a limit. One racket. One or two, maybe. Otherwise this is
the tennis of a sick person. People don't want to see sick people like me on the court, throwing their
rackets at chairs."
Safin's native language is Russian, but he is also quite fluent in Spanish and English. He enjoys soccer,
golf and ice hockey. He is a fan of NBA player Shaquille O'Neal and enjoys watching TV, going to
restaurants, reading books and playing computer games. He likes listening to music, e.g. Metallica,
Halloween, Enigma, depending on his mood. His younger sister, Dinara Safina is a Top 20 player
enjoying success on the WTA Tour.
After the euphoria of the Davis Cup victory, reality has kicked in and Safin admits to being disappointed
with his season overall, but his current coach, Alexander Volkov, is upbeat about his player's prospects
in 2007. "This weekend, Marat has been hurting everywhere but he fought," he said. "He really is a
fighter. I don't think being ranked in the top 30 in the world is a bad result if you take into account
his physical troubles. Do not believe anything of it when he says that he feels old. He still has
beautiful years in front of him yet."
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