Safin again shows why he'll never be considered one of the greats

C

Coria

Banned
Talent wise, Marat Safin could be one of the top 10 players of all time. Power, great agility for his size, huge serve, can hit all the shots, etc. This guy might have the best athletic physique on the tour. He is a phenomenol athlete.

When he puts it all together, he's one of the top 2 or 3 players in the world. But, the guy just can't seem to be consistent. How many times do we have to hear him tell the tennis world how poorly he played? He's been a pro for about 7 years now. He's already hit some very low points in his career. He's had enough first and second round exits to lesser players to last a lifetime. He just won the freaking Australian Open and helped his country advance in Davis Cup. He's won Master's events. He's won a U.S. Open.

Clearly, this guy has some psychological issues he still has not worked through. To hear him say that he never had so much negative energy on the court as he did against Dent is a joke. The guy has played about a hundred "poor" matches in his life. For what he's accomplished and what he's had to go through in his career (the great ups and the terrible downs)--this guy should have learned by now that in NO MATCH SHOULD HE HAVE A LOT OF NEGATIVE ENERGY!!!! Some maybe. But mature, mentally tough, and great players don't experience that kind of mental torment and defeatist mentality--no matter how poorly they think they're playing or no matter how lousy they feel physically.

Marat Safin needs to work very intensely with a qualified Sports Psychologist if he is ever going to sustain excellence in this sport. Time is running out. He's already played a lot of matches and a lot of years. This is his prime--and he's underachieving--despite his occasional great moments. Remember, it took him 4 1/2 years to win another major after most tennis people thought he'd have at least a handful by the age of 25--not to mention being number one.
 
Safin has no talent (and never had), he was and is a good ball striker, when everything falls in his scenario. Russian tennis coaches who know him would tell that, he won US open when Sampras clearly was out of shape, and the AO 2005 by Fed playing with a blister.
How much strategic brilliance have you seen from this guy over years? Not too much, mostly at AO.

Read and listen carefully his interviews, it's hard not to notice that the guy's IQ is pretty low, he is good looking and charismatic, but there where it ends. Stop worshiping Safin.
 
1 Slam every few years is about right for Safin. Too bad he cant control the temper. He has the ability to be one of the greats - too bad the desire isnt there all the time.....
 
Consistency and mental strength I consider part of the overall package called "talent", not just physical talent. Factoring this in, Safin is not that great.
 
gugafanatic said:
I dont think Safin is motivated in ATP Tournaments and the Grass. I think he plays better in the other 3 slams.
Click to expand...
agreed though he did play well at the masters
 
gugafanatic said:
I dont think Safin is motivated in ATP Tournaments and the Grass. I think he plays better in the other 3 slams.
Click to expand...

Except then at the US Open last year, he lost in the first round to Enqvist.

And then went on a tear, winning a couple of other ATP titles, including 2 TMSs.

I don't think it's about motivation. It's about mental stability, which he doesn't have. Sometimes he has good days/weeks, where he's tearing apart everybody - and sometimes he has bad days/weeks where he loses early. And the thing is - unlike Sampras, who could somehow ensure that he had the good day when he needed it, and could pull out a tough match even when he had a bad day - Safin can't seem to do anything about his bad days except hope they don't happen at the wrong time.
 
Negative energy?? Where exactly did he use that term? Low IQ? ROTFL. Right. He's not going to change his personality, he may not be considered one of the greats, so what. You must admit he is one of the most discussed and discected players of all time, and he's only 25. and has lots of very nice cars. What's the male equivalent of meowwww? LOL
 
Of course he's got talent. He's got tremendous talent, that's why he's so frustrating. You know, I enjoy watching Safin, he's fun to watch. He's crazy off court you know, but on court he's pretty fun to watch most times.

But when all the laughing is over and done, when are people going to realize that being funny and 'interesting' to some is not enough? That attitude is frustrating. He's isn't going to get anywhere like that...compare him with Federer. Safin just won the Australian Open, he beat the best player in the world in an amazing match, waits nearly a month till he plays again, and what does he do? Loses in the first round, while Federer was back to work and won his next two tournaments, including Dubai where Safin went out to Kiefer I think in the first round. Then, he's out in the 3rd round here, which is really the second round because it's the second match he's played here. You can only shake your head at the man.
 
from Peter Bodo, tennis magazine

Pity the tennis fan who has a soft spot for Marat Safin, the charming and entirely unreliable Australian Open champ. Last night, he flamed out here at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden so spectacularly that you could practically smell jet fuel and acrid smoke lingering in the soft night desert air.

Safin lost 7-5, 6-4 to the kid with the elastic face, Taylor Dent.

You couldn’t exactly say Safin didn’t try, but you could pretty comfortably claim that he didn’t appear to try all that hard. Isn’t that what playing terribly is really all about, at the core? The inability to muster enough determination, focus, and discipline to play your way out of the doldrums?

The racquet Safin broke midway through the second set and the double-fault he hit on Dent’s first match point were emblematic. And in typical Safin-esque fashion, the rangy Russian sauntered into the interview room afterward and put on a far better performance than he did on court. Safin is never more seductive and engaging than when he has just screwed up, and this was a command performance.

“Just the worst match I ever played, probably in my entire career,” Safin said. “I didn’t [feel] so bad on the court ever, ever in my life. Just no matter what I would do, it just would not go my way.”

“Did you try to change something during the match, a new strategy?” a curious French reporter asked.

“What can you change? You can’t do much . . . . I mean, I couldn’t do the most simple things . . .”

Safin went on, looking sincere and sounding contrite, reciting one of his patented “woe is me” monologues.

He went from saying “Without taking credit from Taylor, I mean, he was there, he played his match . . .” to “It’s a nonsense, you know . . . even if you try, you can’t play so bad—even if you try!”

I got bored with it and wandered out, marveling at the gullibility of my FPPs (fellow press pariahs) and the cheek of Safin, holding court and deconstructing his pathetic performance as if baring his soul could somehow pay off the debt it incurred. In a way, he’s the ultimate narcissist.

http://38.117.149.137/ME2/dirmod.as...re+Pages&gid=3485B4473E534011A12CC1F9C3875980
 
Yeah, I read that too. It's a pretty cutting article...I don't follow Safin enough to know about all this not trying too hard, but...at the least, it's another early round exit from Safin. He hasn't done well since winning the Aussie yet...hopefully for tennis he'll get out of this inconsistency. I can't imagine what it must have been like for Fed fans years ago when he wasted his talent.
 
I don't want to turn into some flaming critic here, for all I know Safin was just being honest. But his results so far haven't been good. It's hard to say what his problem really is. He plays awesome and people say wow, he could be the best, and then he goes out early at his next two tournaments. It's hard to say where his career is going to go if he keeps on like this...he's 25, he doesn't have that much time left. I think Lundgren can help him out though. He helped Federer, I think he can help Safin.
 
amadextor said:
Safin has no talent (and never had), he was and is a good ball striker, when everything falls in his scenario. Russian tennis coaches who know him would tell that, he won US open when Sampras clearly was out of shape, and the AO 2005 by Fed playing with a blister.
How much strategic brilliance have you seen from this guy over years? Not too much, mostly at AO.

Read and listen carefully his interviews, it's hard not to notice that the guy's IQ is pretty low, he is good looking and charismatic, but there where it ends. Stop worshiping Safin.
Click to expand...

Dude - you sound like safin slept with your girl or something....
too bitter with the guy.
 
Utimately, his "greatness" will be judged by how many grand slam titles he goes on to win. You can't say he'll never be considered great. A couple more titles and he will be known as great. Anything can happen. When Agassi's ranking plummeted, I'm sure there were many who thought he threw away his talent... look how wrong they were. Sampras won the US Open after Ruseedski said he would never win another match.

Anyway, I just think it's too early to say that a guy won't be remembered as great.
 
Amadextor you have no clue what you are talking about and so are the rest of you who think that Safin has no talent. Safin has the MOST talent of ANY tour player out there. He is the player with the MOST talent. Yes im including the great and almighty Federer. Now i know you Federer worshippers out there are already cursing me off
but hear me out
Do any of you know what how long Safin trains. Ill give you an answer he really dosent. Safin has really gotten to the pros on talent alone. Safin doesnt train nearly 1/3 as hard as Federer or Hewitt or Roddick. Read his interviews and his quotes. He spends his time drinking and sleeping with girls. His fellow Russian Davis cup player even says that Safin does not work even 10% of what the players do. If i worked as hard as Safin did, id be unranked.
see i know that federer has done all this and that but thats becuase he put HARD work into it. Safin? he gets himself drunk the day before a HUGE match. Safin has said himself that he does not like tennis. He just played it becuase his mother forced him to "make something of himself". He said it was the Russian system. He abhored tennis as a child, viewing it as a daily chore.
so in conclusion, federer and sampras and all those other greats are better players, but safin has more PURE talent.
 
Kevin Patrick said:
“Just the worst match I ever played, probably in my entire career,” Safin said. “I didn’t [feel] so bad on the court ever, ever in my life. Just no matter what I would do, it just would not go my way.”

“Did you try to change something during the match, a new strategy?” a curious French reporter asked.

“What can you change? You can’t do much . . . . I mean, I couldn’t do the most simple things . . .”

Safin went on, looking sincere and sounding contrite, reciting one of his patented “woe is me” monologues.

He went from saying “Without taking credit from Taylor, I mean, he was there, he played his match . . .” to “It’s a nonsense, you know . . . even if you try, you can’t play so bad—even if you try!”

http://38.117.149.137/ME2/dirmod.as...re+Pages&gid=3485B4473E534011A12CC1F9C3875980
Click to expand...

Safin has one of the worse losing attitudes on tour. Many bash Roddick, Hewitt or Federer for being arrogant, not giving opponents credit. Try reading some of Safin's post match interviews each time he loses, he gave absolutely no credit to his opponents, it is always about him. Almost sounds like the male version of Serena Williams.
 
Safin has not slept with my girlriend, but I definetly think he desnot deserve all the hype like he has, You guys critisize many top players including Hewitt, Roddick, etc. making Idol of the guy who is plain brat, ungraceful creature who happens to strike the ball well. When he was a kid, in Moscow, where courts are few, other kids were kicked around courts so that Marat can have best court. I find it dusgusting.
Later on afer fluke win at USopen, he got spoiled with easy money, etc... The guy plainly refuses to take photos with peple. I don't really want to go into details which I know a few. What makes me irritated is people worship player based on looks and obnoxious behavour.
 
Talent is hard to describe when you really get into it.

"the natural endowments of a person : a special often creative or artistic aptitude : mental power : ability : syn genious, gift, faculty, aptitude, knack ---talented."

That's the dictionary. We can debate all we want about who is more talented. But how can we possibly know? Talent of the mind, physical gifts, instinct...all complicated things really. Who is more talented? I don't know. To do that you'd have to compare shots, anticipation, decisions in similar moments, ease of play, etc. Sooner or later the guy is going to have to get results. I just don't see that "I love being here competing" attitude that you get from other players. He seems to have his 'fun' off court, and aside from it being bad for him as a person, it's bad for him as a player. It isn't like he can't get his head around this talent...but he's got a ways to go. At least Lundgren is there.
 
It's interesting following Safin's post match interviews over the years. Prior to the last year or so he always credited the good play of his opponent for his loss, and the phrase "he played better" was becoming extremely irritating to Safin followers. I think he has realized that he has serious mental/confidence issues that are central to him in explaining his losses. Which is good, maybe he'll get serious help with them. Until then, the guy across the court is being ignored for a while. It's hard to admit the guy played better when Safin knows it was usually because he played poorly & allowed him to play better, time & time again.
 
Actually...Safin will definitely be considered one of the "greats". ....take a look at Yannick Noah....a Frenchman who won one lousy French open in his entire career and he makes the hall of fame. Safin has already beaten sampras at the US open and Federer at the Australian. If Yanick made it then Safin absolutely will make it as well!
 
Dear Datacipher,
Of course im unranked, im a HS player...are you that thick?
i was referring to the no name NICHOLAS DAVYDENKO
has anyone ever heard of him?
oh yea he made the quaters at the aussies and semis at Doha
also in the 2005 race hes 8th
a no name of course
 
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