He's wild, wacky and wonderfully talented – Marat Safin is
guaranteed to keep everyone entertained when he plays in next
month's China Open in Beijing.
On the court, the man from Moscow is an explosive mix of raw
power, brilliant shot-making and racquet-breaking tantrums. Off it,
he is witty, unpredictable and often outrageous – small wonder that
tennis journalists have voted him the most quotable player on
tour.
Mad-cap Marat had fans laughing and cheering at this year's
French Open when he dropped his shorts and bent over to celebrate
winning a rally against Felix Mantilla – only for the umpire to
dock him a point. "I felt it was a great point for me," Safin told
amused reporters afterwards. "I felt like pulling my pants down –
what's bad about it? Nobody complained. Everybody was OK. It wasn't
really bad."
At Wimbledon, the Russian smashed his racquet, raged at the
umpire and yelled at himself during his loss to compatriot Dmitry
Tursunov – and all this while one of his biggest fans, former
Russian president Boris Yeltsin, watched from the VIP box.
A Safin post-match press conference can sometimes be more
entertaining than the tennis itself. After losing to Nicolas Kiefer
at the Tennis Masters Toronto in July this year, Safin was asked if
he would consider changing his unconventional approach to the
game.
"You know the story of the hippo?" he responded. "The hippo
comes to the monkey and says, 'Listen, I'm not a hippo.' So, he
paints himself like a zebra, but the monkey says, 'Look at you,
you're painted like a zebra but you're still a hippo.' So then the
hippo says, 'I want to be a little parrot,' and he paints himself
like a parrot. He goes back to see the monkey who tells him,
'Sorry, you're still a hippo.'
"So in the end, you know, the hippo goes back to the monkey and
says, 'I'm happy to be a hippo. This is who I am.' So, I have to be
who I am and he's happy being a hippo!" The story had journalists
in stitches.
After one frustrating loss to Max Mirnyi, a reporter asked Safin
why he had lost his temper. ""Do you expect me to smile like an
idiot on court?" he countered. "Nobody likes to lose – and I can't
be relaxed when I see on the scoreboard that I'm loosing and making
stupid mistakes. That's just the way I am."
And that's just how the fans like him. On form, 24-year-old
Safin is one of the most talented and exciting players in the
world. A physically imposing presence at 6-feet-4, he can serve and
volley with the best while still possessing one of the most
overwhelming baseline games in the sport.
He demolished Pete Sampras to win the US Open in 2000 and has
twice been Australian Open runner-up. He has captured 11 ATP Tour
titles so far in an injury-hampered career.
He might get frustrated from time to time, but Safin loves his
sport. "Of course I enjoy it – I have been playing it since I was
six," he once said. "It's better than cleaning the streets of
Moscow! When I talk to myself on court, I say, 'I love you, you're
a good guy, but don't miss next time, OK?'"
He will be looking to add to his trophy collection when the
inaugural China Open is held from September 10-26. "The launch of
the China Open is great news for professional tennis," he told
reporters. "We all know that Asia is the fastest growing market for
our sport and I am very much looking forward to playing in
Beijing."
Safin has already visited the Chinese capital, attending last
November's official launch press conference with Asian number one
Paradorn Srichaphan. The players toured Beijing's famous sights,
including Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and visited a
traditional Chinese opera.
Tournament director of China Open Lincoln Venancio is delighted
to have Safin in the tournament line-up. "Marat is one of tennis'
great entertainers," he says. "He's phenomenally talented, he's
explosive, he's unpredictable. Marat is going to be a huge hit with
the Chinese fans."
And, it is safe to say, a huge hit with the Chinese press.
Mainland reporters can expect such gems as, "My friend, there is
nothing so sexy as a woman who is angry – perhaps when she is even
throwing things," or, "Regaining your form is like trying to find
love. If you look too hard, you don't find it. When you let it
happen naturally, it comes."
Yet, win or lose, Safin can still smile at himself and make a
joke out of his wild-man reputation. After a journalist
congratulated him on getting through his opening match of 2002 –
against Michael Chang – without breaking his racquet, he responded:
"It's my first day on the job – give me some time!"
The China Open will be held in the 2008 Olympic City at the
newly built state-of-art Beijing Tennis Center featuring a
10,000-seat Center Court and an additional 15 match courts. The
Tournament includes competitions for ATP and WTA players, ITF
junior players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
The Open aims to become the world's "fifth Major" and will be
televised nationwide by CCTV for over 150 hours. Ticket sales were
launched in late July under very strong demand from fans. Over
600,000 fans are expected to attend this major festival of tennis
which also counts with the participation of the ATP's former French
Open champions Juan Carlos Ferrero,
Carlos Moya and finalist Guillermo Coria, former US Open
champion Marat Safin, top 10 stars David Nalbandian and Rainer
Schuettler and Asian number one Paradorn Srichaphan and Dominik
Hrbaty, Taylor Dent, Younes El Aynaoui, Hicham Arazi, Sjeng
Schalken and many others. The women's field includes China's new
tennis star Zheng Jie, newly crowned Queen of Wimbledon and
Princess of tennis Maria Sharapova, WTA top 10 Kuznetsova,
Zvonareva and fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and
famous Serbia player Jelena Dokic.
(www.chinaopen.cn
September 10, 2004)