abmk
Bionic Poster
Many around here seem to be harbouring the myth that Safin played well in only 2 tournaments. - USO 2000 and AO 2005. That's utter and complete bollocks
Short version : Apart from the 2 slams, guy made 2 more slam finals, played well at YEC 2004, won 5 masters titles, made semis of all slams and reached #1 in 2000
Getting into detail
One way to look at it:
Lets start with :
the slams:
1. AO 2004 - beat peak Roddick in 5 sets and very high level Agassi in 5 sets. Spent in the final (esp in set 3). But it was an amazing tournament after almost a year back from injury
2. Wim 2008 - on his worst surface, Safin beat #3 seed Djokovic in straights and made the semi
3. and yes AO 2002 - definitely not a great tournament and final was below par. But he did make the final beating Sampras and Haas. Not something to be pooh-poohed away
4. only lost in a tight 4-set match to eventual finalist Norman (also Rome 2000 winner) in RG 2000 QF. Also reached RG 2002 SF (though he didn't play well in the semi)
5. beat defending champion Kuerten and Agassi at RG in 1998
6. beat Ljubicic, Arazi and T Johansson on the way to semi in USO 01. granted he didn't play well in the semi.
YEC 2004:
beat Coria and Henman convincingly. Only lost in a tight 2 TB match vs Roddick in RR. Played well vs fed in the semi (this was the match with the epic TB)
masters tournaments:
1. won not 1 or 2 masters tournaments, but frigging 5 Masters tournaments:
2. beat Sampras and Ferreria on the way to winning Canada 2000
3. beat Phillipoussis, Grosjean, Corretja and Ferrero on the way to winning Paris 2000. The Paris 2000 final was a classic, high quality encounter.
4. beat Escude, Moya and dominated Hewitt in Paris 2002 win.
5. beat Agassi in straight sets and dominated Nalbandian in Madrid 2004 win
6. beat Hewitt, Canas and Stepanek in Paris 2004 win.
7. made final of Hamburg 2000. Took peak Kuerten to a 5th set TB there.
8. made final of Hamburg 2002 - losing to a fed playing his very best tennis.
Other tournaments:
1. beat Norman (Rome 00 winner and RG 2000 finalist) in Barcelona 2000. Also beat Ferrero there
2. Helped Russia win Davis Cup in 2002. (beat Grosjean&Paul henri Mathieu)
3. Helped Russia win Davis Cup in 2006.
4. won Tashkent & St.Petersburg in 01 beating Kafelnikov in both
II. 2nd way:
Safin reached #1 in 2000. you don't reach frickin' #1 by playing well in one tournament in a year.
Safin won 7 titles in 2000 - including USO 2000, Canada 2000, Paris 2000, Barcelona 2000 and 3 other tournaments. Also made final of Hamburg.
III. 3rd way:
Safin vs top 10:
49/99 (49.5%)
Safin vs top 10 in slams:
13/24 (54.2%)
That's a pretty good record vs top 10 for a 2 slam winner.
Obviously someone playing well in only 2 tournaments cannot do that.
Short version : Apart from the 2 slams, guy made 2 more slam finals, played well at YEC 2004, won 5 masters titles, made semis of all slams and reached #1 in 2000
Getting into detail
One way to look at it:
Lets start with :
the slams:
1. AO 2004 - beat peak Roddick in 5 sets and very high level Agassi in 5 sets. Spent in the final (esp in set 3). But it was an amazing tournament after almost a year back from injury
2. Wim 2008 - on his worst surface, Safin beat #3 seed Djokovic in straights and made the semi
3. and yes AO 2002 - definitely not a great tournament and final was below par. But he did make the final beating Sampras and Haas. Not something to be pooh-poohed away
4. only lost in a tight 4-set match to eventual finalist Norman (also Rome 2000 winner) in RG 2000 QF. Also reached RG 2002 SF (though he didn't play well in the semi)
5. beat defending champion Kuerten and Agassi at RG in 1998
6. beat Ljubicic, Arazi and T Johansson on the way to semi in USO 01. granted he didn't play well in the semi.
YEC 2004:
beat Coria and Henman convincingly. Only lost in a tight 2 TB match vs Roddick in RR. Played well vs fed in the semi (this was the match with the epic TB)
masters tournaments:
1. won not 1 or 2 masters tournaments, but frigging 5 Masters tournaments:
2. beat Sampras and Ferreria on the way to winning Canada 2000
3. beat Phillipoussis, Grosjean, Corretja and Ferrero on the way to winning Paris 2000. The Paris 2000 final was a classic, high quality encounter.
4. beat Escude, Moya and dominated Hewitt in Paris 2002 win.
5. beat Agassi in straight sets and dominated Nalbandian in Madrid 2004 win
6. beat Hewitt, Canas and Stepanek in Paris 2004 win.
7. made final of Hamburg 2000. Took peak Kuerten to a 5th set TB there.
8. made final of Hamburg 2002 - losing to a fed playing his very best tennis.
Other tournaments:
1. beat Norman (Rome 00 winner and RG 2000 finalist) in Barcelona 2000. Also beat Ferrero there
2. Helped Russia win Davis Cup in 2002. (beat Grosjean&Paul henri Mathieu)
3. Helped Russia win Davis Cup in 2006.
4. won Tashkent & St.Petersburg in 01 beating Kafelnikov in both
II. 2nd way:
Safin reached #1 in 2000. you don't reach frickin' #1 by playing well in one tournament in a year.
Safin won 7 titles in 2000 - including USO 2000, Canada 2000, Paris 2000, Barcelona 2000 and 3 other tournaments. Also made final of Hamburg.
III. 3rd way:
Safin vs top 10:
49/99 (49.5%)
Safin vs top 10 in slams:
13/24 (54.2%)
That's a pretty good record vs top 10 for a 2 slam winner.
Obviously someone playing well in only 2 tournaments cannot do that.
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