Marat Mikhailovich Safin

Marat Safin
Marat Safin 2006
Nation:	Russia
Birthday:	27th January 1980 (age 40)
Size:	193 cm
Weight:	88 kg
1st professional season:	1997
Resignation:	2009
Playing hand:	Right, two-handed backhand
Trainer:	Hernán Gumy
Prize money:	$ 14,373,291
singles
Career record:	422: 267
Career title:	15th
Highest ranking:	1 (November 20, 2000)
Weeks as No. 1:	9
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	96: 120
Career title:	2
Highest ranking:	71 (April 22, 2002)
Grand Slam record
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Marat Michailowitsch Safin ( Russian Марат Михайлович Сафин , scientific transliteration Marat Michajlovič Safin , Tatar Marat Möbin ulı Safin; born January 27, 1980 in Moscow ) is a former Russian tennis player of Tatar origin.

Safin began his tennis career in 1997 and narrowly missed the top of the world rankings at the end of the year in the 2000 season after leading the world rankings for nine weeks during the season . Safin has won 15 singles tournaments in his career, including the 2005 Australian Open and the 2000 US Open . At the end of the 2009 season he ended his career after losing connection to the top of the world due to several injuries.

childhood

Marat Safin's mother Rausa Mohamedjhanowna Islanowa was a former top ten player in Russia, his father Mikhail Alexejewitsch Safin (Mubin Aliamtschewitsch) ran a tennis club in Moscow, in which, in addition to Safin, later stars like Anna Kurnikova , Jelena Dementjewa and Anastassija Myskina trained. His younger sister Dinara Safina , also a professional tennis player, was number 1 in the WTA world rankings for 20 weeks from April 2009 . At the age of 14 he moved to the Spanish Valencia , as the training opportunities in Russia were no longer sufficient.

Career

In 1997 he appeared for the first time in the ATP men's tour and lost at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in the first round against the Dane Kenneth Carlsen . In 1998 he attracted general attention when he defeated Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten in five sets each at the French Open. In 2000 he won his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open . He defeated the four-time US Open winner Pete Sampras in 3 sets with 6: 4, 6: 3 and 6: 3. Tennis experts saw in Safin a new star in the tennis sky that would dominate the tennis world for the next few years. But a series of poor concentration and unstable games, which were blamed on his unpredictable temper outbursts, refuted this prognosis. In addition, he sustained several injuries that affected his game so much that he was sidelined for most of the 2003 season.

Safin on serve

Safin reached three other Grand Slam finals, all at the Australian Open (2002, 2004 and 2005). It was only in 2005 that he was able to hold the trophy in the air after defeating local hero Lleyton Hewitt in four sets with 1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 4. In the semifinals, Safin had previously defeated Roger Federer in a five-sentence thriller. Safin showed unusual calm and superiority and ended Federer's winning streak. In his career, Safin won five ATP Masters titles, in Toronto in 2000, in Paris in 2000, 2002 and 2004 and in Madrid in 2004. In 2004 Safin also reached the semifinals of the Masters Cup in Houston, where he was defeated 3: 6 and 6: 7 (18:20) against Federer.

After triumphing at the Australian Open in 2005, Safin attributed his victory and consistent performance to his new coach Peter Lundgren , who was Federer's coach until 2003. The following tournaments were not very successful, followed by many early defeats up to the French Open . In June 2005 he was still in the Wimbledon preparatory tournament in Halle in the final, where he was defeated by Federer.

Safin was popular with both fans and commentators. He was notorious for smashed thugs, and in 2004 he dropped his pants at Roland Garros after beating Félix Mantilla in the second round . His behavior and the support of his predominantly female fans made Safin a player who was able to breathe new life into a sport that had lost its popularity.

In 2002, Marat Safin, along with Yevgeny Kafelnikow , Michail Juschny , Andrei Stoljarow and team captain Shamil Tarpishchev, helped Russia achieve its first Davis Cup victory when they defeated France 3-2 in the final round in Paris.

Although a serious knee injury threw him far back in the rankings (he missed the 2005 US Open and 2006 Australian Open) and undermined Safin's progress, he returned to the tour in 2006 and played the Masters tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg. While his lack of success showed that a full return to his former state would take some time, it did prove that he is still one of the most feared hard court players. In front of the French audience at the Davis Cup final against Richard Gasquet , he showed that he can control his temperament and showed mental strength, brought his basic strokes into the field, placed 33 aces and finally won after 3 hours 45 minutes. On August 17, 2006, Safin temporarily separated from his coach Peter Lundgren after a disappointing year .

At the US Open 2006 Safin played like in the old days, when he beat the fourth seeded David Nalbandian in five sets in the second round match and again showed unusual calm and mental strength. In the fourth round he failed against the former world number two Tommy Haas , also in five sets. Safin's current form improvement continued, first in the 3-2 win against the USA in the Davis Cup and then with a good start to the indoor season at the Thailand Open, where he lost to eventual winner James Blake in the semifinals.

As the grand finale of 2006, Safin competed in the Davis Cup 2006 against Argentina together with Nikolai Dawydenko , Dmitri Tursunow and Michail Juschny . In front of their home crowd, the Russian team won 3-2 and secured their second Davis Cup victory after 2002.

2009 at the US Open

After a relatively good 2006 season, Safin was back in the top 30, as he was temporarily eliminated from important tournaments due to his injuries and his weak performance.

In 2007 he was ranked 24th and was traded as a secret favorite at the 2007 Australian Open . He convinced in his first and second round matches, but then lost in the third round against Andy Roddick, who was third . His improvement in form was only to last for a short time, in Las Vegas he showed mental strength and made it to the semi-finals, where he clearly lost 7: 5 and 6: 1 against the eventual winner Lleyton Hewitt. At the Masters tournaments he was eliminated early. In Monte Carlo he defeated the Belgian Kristof Viegen 6-0 in the first set, but lost the second and third set after a clear lead. Further defeats followed very early in Miami, Indian Wells and Rome.

At the French Open 2007 he was defeated in the second round to the Serb Janko Tipsarević in three sets. Also at Wimbledon 2007 he was eliminated in three sets (1: 6, 4: 6 and 6: 7 (4: 7)) against Roger Federer in the third round. At the US Open this year he was eliminated in the second round against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka (3: 6, 3: 6, 3: 6).

At the Australian Open 2008 Safin was eliminated in a hard-fought match (4: 6, 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3, 2: 6) against Marcos Baghdatis in the second round. At the French Open he was also eliminated in the second round against his compatriot Nikolai Dawydenko in three sets (6: 7, 2: 6, 2: 6). Only in Wimbledon was Safin able to find his way back to old strength and achieved the best result of his career so far. Safin was only defeated in the semifinals by Roger Federer 3: 6, 6: 7 and 4: 6. On his way there he had beaten the world number three Novak Đoković 6: 4, 7: 6 and 6: 3. At the tournaments after Wimbledon, Safin was unable to build on these successes and was eliminated from the US Open in the second round against the Spaniard Tommy Robredo (6: 4, 6: 7, 4: 6, 0: 6).

At the end of the 2009 season after the Masters in Paris , he ended his professional career. In 2016 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame .

Political career

In the parliamentary elections in Russia in 2011 , Safin was elected to the Duma for United Russia , the party of Vladimir Putin , as a member of the Duma for the constituency of Nizhny Novgorod . In 2017 he gave up his mandate.

successes

Legend Grand Slam (2) Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (5) ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (1) ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (9) ATP Challenger Tour (2)

Title after covering Hard Court (10) Sand (3) Lawn (0) Carpet (4)

singles

Victories

ATP World Tour

No.	date	competition	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	August 23, 1999	Boston	Hard court	Greg Rusedski	6: 4, 7: 6 11
2.	April 24, 2000	Barcelona	sand	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 4
3.	May 1, 2000	Mallorca	sand	Mikael Tillström	6: 4, 6: 3
4th	July 31, 2000	Toronto	Hard court	Harel Levy	6: 2, 6: 3
5.	August 28, 2000	US Open	Hard court	Pete Sampras	6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 3
6th	September 11, 2000	Tashkent (1)	Hard court	Davide Sanguinetti	6: 3, 6: 4
7th	November 6, 2000	St. Petersburg (1)	Hard court (i)	Dominik Hrbatý	2: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
8th.	November 13, 2000	Paris (1)	Carpet (i)	Mark Philippoussis	3: 6, 7: 6 7 , 6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 6 8
9.	September 10, 2001	Tashkent (2)	Hard court	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6: 2, 6: 2
10.	October 22, 2001	St. Petersburg (2)	Hard court (i)	Rainer Schüttler	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3
11.	October 28, 2002	Paris (2)	Carpet (i)	Lleyton Hewitt	7: 6 4 , 6: 0, 6: 4
12.	September 13, 2004	Beijing	Hard court	Mikhail Juschny	7: 6 4 , 7: 5
13.	October 18, 2004	Madrid	Hard court (i)	David Nalbandian	6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3
14th	November 1, 2004	Paris (3)	Carpet (i)	Radek Štěpánek	6: 3, 7: 6 5 , 6: 3
15th	January 17, 2005	Australian Open	Hard court	Lleyton Hewitt	1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 4

ATP Challenger Tour

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	September 14, 1997	Espinho	sand	Stéphane Huet	7: 5, 6: 0

Final participation

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	November 7, 1999	Paris	Carpet (i)	Andre Agassi	6: 7 1 , 2: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6
2.	May 21, 2000	Hamburg (1)	sand	Gustavo Kuerten	4: 6, 7: 5, 4: 6, 7: 5, 6: 7 3
3.	August 20, 2000	Indianapolis	Hard court	Gustavo Kuerten	6: 3, 6: 7 2 , 6: 7 2
4th	February 4, 2001	Dubai	Hard court	Juan Carlos Ferrero	2: 6, 3: 6
5.	January 27, 2002	Australian Open (1)	Hard court	Thomas Johansson	6: 3, 4: 6, 4: 6, 6: 7 4
6th	May 19, 2002	Hamburg (2)	sand	Roger Federer	1: 6, 3: 6, 4: 6
7th	April 27, 2003	Barcelona	sand	Carlos Moyá	7: 5, 2: 6, 2: 6, 0: 3 task
8th.	February 1, 2004	Australian Open (2)	Hard court	Roger Federer	6: 7 3 , 4: 6, 2: 6
9.	April 18, 2004	Estoril	sand	Juan Ignacio Chela	7: 6 2 , 3: 6, 3: 6
10.	June 12, 2005	Hall	race	Roger Federer	4: 6, 7: 6 6 , 4: 6
11.	October 9, 2006	Moscow (1)	Hard court (i)	Nikolai Davydenko	4: 6, 7: 5, 4: 6
12.	October 4, 2008	Moscow (2)	Hard court (i)	Igor Kunitsyn	6: 7 6 , 7: 6 4 , 3: 6

Double

Victories

ATP World Tour

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	July 9, 2001	Gstaad	sand	Roger Federer	Michael Hill Jeff Tarango	0: 1 task
2.	October 8, 2007	Moscow	Carpet (i)	Dmitri Tursunov	Tomáš Cibulec Lovro Zovko	6: 4, 6: 2

ATP Challenger Tour

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	February 15, 1998	Wolfsburg	Carpet (i)	Dušan Vemić	Jan-Ralph Brandt Thomas Messmer	6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 2

Final participation

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	November 8, 1999	Moscow	Carpet (i)	Andrij Medvedev	Justin Gimelstob Daniel Vacek	2: 6, 1: 6
2.	October 22, 2001	St. Petersburg (1)	Hard court (i)	Irakli Labadze	Denis Golovanov Yevgeny Kafelnikow	5: 7, 4: 6
3.	October 21, 2002	St. Petersburg (2)	Hard court (i)	Irakli Labadze	David Adams Jared Palmer	6: 7 8 , 3: 6
4th	June 6, 2005	Hall	race	Joachim Johansson	Yves Allegro Roger Federer	5: 7, 7: 6 6 , 3: 6

Balance at Grand Slam tournaments

singles

Tournament 1	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	total
Australian Open	3R	2R	3R	-	S.	F.	3R	F.	AF	1R	3R	-	-	1
French Open	2R	2R	2R	1R	AF	AF	-	HF	3R	VF	AF	AF	-	0
Wimbledon	1R	HF	3R	2R	3R	1R	-	2R	VF	2R	-	1R	-	0
US Open	1R	2R	2R	AF	-	1R	-	2R	HF	S.	2R	AF	-	1
Individual titles won	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1	2	7th	1	0	0	15th
Overall wins / defeats 2	19:22	24:24	23:20	35:25	27:11	52:23	12:11	56:26	45:27	73:27	39:32	17:18	0: 1	422: 267
Year-end position	-	29	56	26th	13	4th	77	3	11	2	25th	48	194	N / A

Explanation of symbols: S = tournament victory; F, HF, VF, AF = entry into the final / semi-finals / quarter-finals / round of 16; 1R, 2R, 3R = elimination in the 1st / 2nd / 3rd main round or Q1, Q2, Q3 = elimination in the 1st / 2nd / 3rd qualifying round

¹ tournament result in brackets means that the player has not yet finished the tournament; it shows its current tournament status. After the player finishes the tournament, the bracket is removed.
² Status: end of career

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ex-tennis professional Safin moves into Duma. In: Focus Online. December 9, 2011, accessed September 9, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Former Tennis Star Safin To Step Down From Russia's State DumaFormer Tennis Star Safin To Step Down From Russia's State Duma. In: rferl.org. May 25, 2017, accessed September 9, 2019 . 

Web links

Commons : Marat Safin  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• ATP profile Marat Safin (English)
• ITF profile Marat Safin (English)
• Davis Cup stats by Marat Safin (English)
• Marat Michailowitsch Safin in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
• Marat Safin's website ( Memento from September 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive )