RFE: Marat Safin, a Devout Public Figure, Greater than Sampras and Federer combined

[SoBad]

In this recent article, Radio Free Europe confirms that Safin is a better tennis player than players like Federer and even Sampras. The reporter stops short of comparing Safin to Nadal. The article focuses on Safin’s current role on the global political stage which has naturally grown beyond the scope of mere lawmaking at the federal parliamentary level and extends to spiritual leadership for all of Eurasia.


Marat Safin: From Legendary Tennis to Devout Public Figure

Former world No.1 tennis player Marat Safin is well known internationally as a gifted but mercurial tennis talent who could humble the likes of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer when he was in the mood.

He was also renowned -- some would say notorious -- for his lavish off-court lifestyle, replete with glamorous women on his arm and flashy cars in his driveway.

In recent years, however, the two-time Grand Slam winner has done a lot to temper his brash bad-boy image. The opulent trappings of fame are no longer so evident and his impetuous racket-smashing antics are now a distant memory.

Since his retirement in 2009, he has consolidated this newfound respectability by becoming an elected member of parliament for President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party.

In the eyes of many, Safin has added a dash of youthful vibrancy to Russia's old guard, something he himself acknowledged ahead of his election in December 2011.

"I could be the best-looking guy in the Duma," he said. "But that's only because all the other guys are over 60."
​​
With his political star in the ascendant, Safin has also embraced his ethnic Tatar identity.

Tennis fans who still associate him with the temperamental, volatile party animal of old would find it hard to recognize the modest, seemingly devout Muslim who attended prayers wearing a traditional Tatar tubetey during Eid al-Adha celebrations in Nizhny Novgorod last week.

Nonetheless, Safin himself maintains that his faith and ethnicity have always been an integral part of his make-up, even during his hell-raising playing days.

"You can't fight your genes," he told "USA Today" in 2005. "I'm Russian, but I'm 100 percent Muslim. All the Muslim people are passionate, stubborn. We have hot blood."

Of course, Safin's very public mosque appearance during one of Islam's biggest feasts is also good politicking for any ambitious tyro seeking to bolster his grassroots support.

It could even be seen as a timely endorsement of Russia's system of ethnicity-based republics, which was roundly condemned on October 27 by leading opposition politician Mikhail Prokhorov.

In this sense, Safin could be seen to embody what United Russia thinks of Prokhorov's proposal to abolish ethnic republics such as Tatarstan, Daghestan, and North Ossetia.

-- Coilin O'Connor

[loci]

The headline should read, "Marat Safin, a Devout Public Figure, More Handsome than Sampras and Federer combined." I don't think anyone would argue with that.

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by loci

The headline should read, "Marat Safin, a Devout Public Figure, More Handsome than Sampras and Federer combined." I don't think anyone would argue with that.

"gifted tennis talent who could humble the likes of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer"

- that's what Radio Free Europe said

Of course, Safin is also handsome, as you point out, and a global spiritual leader.

[90's Clay]

From bar hopper to pope?

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

From bar hopper to pope?

Legendary sports stars occasionally dine at restaurants, just like ordinary folks do. There is no reason to believe that history of occasional dining out incidents impedes such stars' capacity to develop into global spiritual leaders to any tangible extent.

[Cup8489]

I didn't realize Safin was Muslim. Cool stuff.

[Mustard]

I can't stand the party Safin is in, consisting of those who looted and sold off the planned economy after 1991, turning themselves from state bureaucrats into capitalist gangsters.

[stringertom]

Muslim party animal??? Slightly oxymoronic, nyet?

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by stringertom

Muslim party animal??? Slightly oxymoronic, nyet?

Legendary athletes are known to dine out on occasion, just like the ordinary folks.

[SoBad]

Originally Posted by Mustard

I can't stand the party Safin is in, consisting of those who looted and sold off the planned economy after 1991, turning themselves from state bureaucrats into capitalist gangsters.

Everyone plays by the same rules - how do you draw the line between "good" and "bad" guys?

[Sabratha]

Better than Sampras and Federer? In talent? Possibly. In skill level and consistency at the top of the game? Never.

[marc45]

i don't see anything in here about his specific views or policy ideas...look, we all love marat, but is he a thinker?..where does he see russia going in the future?..what about us-russian relations?...show me some meat (as his girlfriends used to say)

[dominikk1985]

I think they meant he boned more chicks than fed and sampras combined.

If Safin is Muslim his lifestyle is not very muslim

[grimmbomb21]

Originally Posted by dominikk1985

I think they meant he boned more chicks than fed and sampras combined.

If Safin is Muslim his lifestyle is not very muslim

Somebody forgot to tell him the truckload of virgins were supposed to come in the afterlife.

[WhiskeyEE]

I'm surprised he's muslim as well. I know he's tatar, but still. Anyway turkic muslims are similar to modern day Christians. They don't follow most of the Quran.

[pound cat]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyEE

I'm surprised he's muslim as well. I know he's tatar, but still. Anyway turkic muslims are similar to modern day Christians. They don't follow most of the Quran.

He is ethnically Tatar and they are Muslin but Safin has never been a practicing Muslim. But because he is a politician and a member of Putins repressive All Russia party in the Duma when he is visiting a an Islamic country or mosque he does the politically correct thing (see here in the picture). His family background may be Muslim but his Safin's lifestyle has never been.

[SoBad]

The Quran, even in its strictest interpretation, is only a book that has admittedly come to be of importance to communities. The realities of the communities that have evolved in the Muslim world are at stark contrast to many of the rules proposed in the text. The modern spiritual leaders of Eurasia have the wisdom to recognise the realities and balance the strict interpretation of the ancient scripts against the realities of the modern world.

[r2473]

Originally Posted by SoBad

Everyone plays by the same rules - how do you draw the line between "good" and "bad" guys?

I use a pencil

[BauerAlmeida]

Originally Posted by Sabratha

Better than Sampras and Federer? In talent? Possibly. In skill level and consistency at the top of the game? Never.

Of course. The writer never said he was more achieved than Fed and Sampras. But he beat both players in the slams he won so that's why they mentioned it probably.

Originally Posted by pound cat

His family background may be Muslim but his Safin's lifestyle has never been.

Nah, we was almost a saint

[gavna]

Originally Posted by pound cat

He is ethnically Tatar and they are Muslin but Safin has never been a practicing Muslim. But because he is a politician and a member of Putins repressive All Russia party in the Duma when he is visiting a an Islamic country or mosque he does the politically correct thing (see here in the picture). His family background may be Muslim but his Safin's lifestyle has never been.

You nailed it........