How would a peak Safin have fared against the best today?

galain

galain

Hall of Fame
We saw him eke out a win against a prime/almost prime Fed at the Australian Open. I know he's lost twice to Nadal but both times toward the end of his career. He was one of the players that seemed immense when he was having a good day.

Would he have had the firepower to shut down Djokovic or Nadal at his best?
 
IowaGuy

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
galain said:
We saw him eke out a win against a prime/almost prime Fed at the Australian Open. I know he's lost twice to Nadal but both times toward the end of his career. He was one of the players that seemed immense when he was having a good day.

Would he have had the firepower to shut down Djokovic or Nadal at his best?
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Yes. Firepower was not his problem. (OTOH, nagging injuries and mental issues...)

Prime Safin was a beast. 6'4" of power and good movement for a guy that big (no one taller has ever reached #1).

Plus, you never knew whether he had ties to Russian mafia :)

 
Benben245

Benben245

Professional
Safin would inspire Kyrgios to get a heavier racquet to improve his ground strokes. Of course Safin in his prime would compete against the best in todays game, but like his career he wouldn't be consistent. He could blow anyone off the court
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
He would be like Thiem, only stopped by Nadal. Or maybe like Wawrinka, the only one stopping Djokovic.

At the end of the day, it is an untestable issue and nobody can really know.
 
galain

galain

Hall of Fame
Sport said:
He would be like Thiem, only stopped by Nadal. Or maybe like Wawrinka, the only one stopping Djokovic.

At the end of the day, it is an untestable issue and nobody can really know.
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This is actually how I was picturing him in today's game as well - like Wawrinka just blasting Djokovic off the court when he's on form.
 
D

Deleted member 307496

Guest
Sport said:
He would be like Thiem, only stopped by Nadal. Or maybe like Wawrinka, the only one stopping Djokovic.

At the end of the day, it is an untestable issue and nobody can really know.
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You really have to stop comparing that mug Thiem to guys like Hewitt and Safin... they are as far above him as Murray is to David Ferrer.
 
X

Xavier G

Hall of Fame
He'd be a top ten player in a good season and threat to win a Slam on hard courts if playing well, so the USO and AO look like the ones he could feature in. Marat was very inconsistent though and a streaky player for much of his career. I think he had some injury setbacks too iirc.
Peak Safin could beat 37 year old Fed and 32 year old Nadal on a good day. He's significantly better than than what the likes of Thiem and Zverev have shown so far. Safin and Del Potro would be a good match up.
Djokovic playing well might be more of a problem, but peak Safin has his chances there too.
 
P

Phoenix1983

G.O.A.T.
Safin would be another Wawrinka or Del Potro. Capable on his day of beating anyone, but unlikely to do it throughout the whole season.
 
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