Wimbledon '08

Lena

Konferencja po meczu z Seppim:

Q. What does it mean to you to get to the second week here?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, I didn't made it since a couple of years, I think, and for me it's a big achievement. I'm pleased with the way I'm playing, actually. This is the most important thing.

Q. How was that match on you physically?

MARAT SAFIN: It's okay. It was a tough match. The guy played, I think, one of his best matches. He's a fast player, knows what to do, plays very well on grass, moves very well.

At the end of the match it was pretty tough because we both, I think, couldn't see the ball anymore. I was a little bit worried because I couldn't see the ball at the end.

Q. What happened on the last couple points then?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, two frames and I just ‑‑ I couldn't see it anymore. Just all of a sudden you cannot see it. At the score 3‑2 I just couldn't see. I explained with the timing, that's it, and I think he did the same.

Q. Do you think you handled the whole light situation a little better than he did because he's sort of a less experienced player and he did a lot more complaining on the changeovers?

MARAT SAFIN: I don't think he complained about anything.

Q. He seemed more outwardly aggravated.

MARAT SAFIN: For him it was a big match, I think, also to beat me in the third round, especially the way he played. I think the match was a really close one, and with a little bit of experience I think he could get to the fifth set. Then you never know what could happen.

But I think just a little bit of experience helped me a lot.

Q. Were you torn a little bit between, well, things are going well right now, maybe we should try to finish, or this is crazy, I really can't see?

MARAT SAFIN: I prefer to play tomorrow than to finish today, because you never know. It's the fifth set and it's a new story. It's better to stop and play tomorrow. It's just a new day and we finish it up.

Q. At what point would you have said something to the officials.

MARAT SAFIN: I think at 3‑3 or 3‑2 I said, When are we going to stop? I really say, I couldn't speak loud because I didn't want guys to hear about it, because it was really important.

Because every time we played ‑‑ that's what I was trying to get a fast point. Just attack or just go to the net or try to make a first serve, just a winner, because I couldn't really see. I couldn't play the point.

Q. What was the official's answer to you?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, we have to stop when we are even. This is not exactly the response that I want to hear, but it looks like it has to be like 5‑All, 6‑All and then just go the next day.

But it's not really satisfying for me.

Q. Because you were up a break?

MARAT SAFIN: For me, if I want to stop and I am up a break, I think I'm the one who wants to stop, not him. Because he has all the rights also to stop because he is losing and he can't see the ball. I'm the one who doesn't see the ball and I want to stop, which is, I think, pretty fair.

Q. But if he said you had to stop when you were even that would mean you would have given the break back by then.

MARAT SAFIN: It was close, 5‑All, and then you never know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Q. How well are you playing now?

MARAT SAFIN: I think pretty good tennis, pretty good level. I think I just start to feel much more comfortable match by match.

Q. When you get momentum from winning, how does that help you?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, I get nervous. Like when it's tough moments, like when I was a break up in the fourth set, it was just hold the serve and just continue. But I went double fault and one easy mistake, and that's it.

Just, again, you're back in it to try to make another break, so it's just some moments you need to be more focused.

Q. You've won three now. How far do you think you can go?

MARAT SAFIN: I'm playing against Wawrinka. I've never beat him. I really want to get revenge. I think it should happen here, and I'm looking forward.

Q. You quite rightly didn't have huge expectations coming in because of your second round opponent. Have you looked at the draw the last couple days and set a new goal for yourself?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, match by match. It's just you don't want to have a lot of expectations, because when you start to have a lot of expectations you just end up losing in the third round to God knows who.

Just for me, I'm just trying to get as close as I can to top 50. This is my goal just heading into the summer in the U.S. I think it should make a really huge difference. I would love to have seeded in the US Open.

Now that I have a chance to get there, why not? I'm on the second week of the Grand Slam and I'm playing against Wawrinka. I think just have a chance there, so why not? I think there is a chance, and you take it.

Q. Will you be buying any more plane tickets?

MARAT SAFIN: No. Well, I'll try to postpone until Monday.

Karolka

wywiad po meczu z Lopezem narazie w wersji video Smile

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

Kati

Ja po prostu KOCHAM jak on wywija tymi łapami, drapie sie, smera, nie wie, co z nimi zrobić...
Słodkości po prostu! Rozbraja mnie całkiem!

elviira

A ja uwielbiam ten jego zachrypnięty głos, no po prostu mrrrau Very Happy

Karolka

i coś z onet.pl

Wimbledon: wielcy faworyci w półfinale, "życiówka" Safina

Szwajcar Roger Federer, lider światowego rankingu rozstawiony z numerem 1., awansował do półfinału wielkoszlemowego turieju mężczyzn rozgrywanego na trawiastych kortach Wimbledonu.
Pięciokrotny triumfator tej imprezy wygrał w ćwierćfinale z Chorwatem Mario Ancicem 6:1, 7:5, 6:4. Mecz trwał godzinę i 41 minut. Federer w całym meczu odnotował 15 asów serwisowych, 40 uderzeń wygrywających i tylko sześć niewymuszonych błędów. Ani przez chwilę nie stracił też kontroli nad rozwojem wydarzeń na korcie.

To nie dziwi, bowiem 26-letni Szwajcar nie poniósł porażki na trawie od pięciu lat, a ostatni raz przegrał na tej nawierzchni w czerwcu 2002 roku właśnie z Ancicem w pierwszej rundzie Wimbledonu. Od tamtej porażki n a obiekcie The All England Tennis and Croquet Club nie miał sobie równych, triumfując tu w pięciu kolejnych edycjach.
W Londynie Federer wygrał w środę 40. mecz z rzędu, a na trawie odniósł 65. kolejnych zwycięstw, ponieważ w ostatnich sześciu sezonach pięciokrotnie triumfował w turnieju ATP w niemieckim Halle.

Młodszy o dwa lata Ancic jest zawodnikiem, który nie posiada zbyt szerokiego warsztatu tenisowego, a jego największym atutem jest mocny serwis i szybkość, które otwierają mu drogę do częstych wypadów do siatki.

Taktyka serwis-wolej najlepiej zdaje egzamin właśnie na trawie, na której osiągnął jedyny w karierze półfinał w Wielkim Szlemie, a także zdobył dwa z trzech tytułów w ATP Tour - w s'Hertogenbosch (2006-07).

W walce o finał Szwajcar zmierzy się z Rosjaninem Maratem Safinem. 28-letni tenisista odniósł życiowy sukces na Wimbledonie, awansując do półfinału. W 1/4 finału ograł on rozstawionego z numerem 31. Hiszpana Feliciano Lopeza 3:6, 7:5, 7:6 (7-1), 6:3.

W Wimbledonie 28-letni rosyjski tenisista, sklasyfikowany obecnie na 75. miejscu w rankingu ATP, spisuje się zaskakująco dobrze, osiągnął ćwierćfinał w Wielkim Szlemie po raz pierwszy od stycznia 2005 roku. W ostatnich sezonach zmagał się z licznymi kontuzjami, a częste przerwy w grze sprawiły, że wypadł z czołowej dziesiątki.

Safin ma w dorobku dwa zwycięstwa wielkoszlemowe odniesione w nowojorskim US Open w 2000 roku oraz pięć lat później w Australian Open. W Londynie sprawił już dwie spore niespodzianki, bowiem najpierw w drugiej rundzie wyeliminował bez straty seta trzeciego tenisistę świata - Serba Novaka Djokovica, a w czwartej rundzie odprawił z kwitkiem Szwajcara Stanislasa Wawrinkę (nr 13.).

Trzecim półfinalistą został rozstawiony z numerem 2. Hiszpan Rafael Nadal. Pokonał on w ćwierćfinale faworyta gospodarzy Andy Murraya 6:3, 6:2, 6:4.

Nadal ma szansę - jako pierwszy tenisista od 28 lat - wygrać w jednym sezonie dwa kolejne wielkoszlemowe turnieje: na kortach ziemnych im. Rolanda Garrosa oraz na wimbledońskiej trawie. Ostatni raz udało się wygrać kolejno w Paryżu i Londynie Szwedowi Bjoernowi Borgowi w 1980 roku.

Natomiast Murray był największą nadzieją organizatorów na pierwszy triumf w imprezie reprezentanta gospodarzy od 72 lat, bowiem ostatnio miało to miejsce w 1935 roku, a dokonał tego Fred Perry.

Rywalem Nadala bęszie lepszy z pary Rainer Schuettler (Niemcy) - Arnaud Clement (Francja).

W środę przypomniała o sobie typowa londyńska pogoda, bowiem mecze kilkakrotnie przerywały opady deszczu, a towarzyszyło im wyraźne ochłodzenie. Dopiero późnym popołudniem rozpogodziło się i można było na dobre wznowić pojedynki.

Przez pierwszy tydzień rywalizacja troczyła się przy temperaturze znacznie przekraczającej 20 stopni Celsjusza, natomiast w poniedziałek odnotowano 34-stopniowy upał. Właściwie tylko w piątek przelotne opady zmąciły na mniej więcej godzinę plan gier turnieju.

Karolka

kolejny wywiadzik z Maratem tym razem z tennischannel Wink

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

Lena

Q. What, if anything, would you have done differently?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, just to be able to do something different from the beginning. You need to play these kind of matches a little bit more often because it's just a different rhythm, it's just a different player. It's just difficult to start the match the way you want to start. And, of course, he puts so much pressure on the return that it's too much. You need to play more matches. That's the only thing. Because otherwise it's just a game plan, of course. You know how to play against him, but lack of matches doesn't make them work.

Q. After your last match you said it would be very difficult, probably too difficult, to beat Roger Federer. How difficult is that right now with how well is he playing?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, just as I said right now, you need to play a little bit more matches, these kind of matches against Djokovic, Nadal, Roddick, to be able to play something, better tennis, to be able to compete at the same level with him. And that's also typical, the three-set match, you know.He's playing well. He's playing solid. Doesn't do anything fancy. Just plays how he needs to play to be able to win. He has a couple of shots when he's under pressure. He does them all the time. So just nothing fancy. The only thing that was missing a little bit too much in important moments. That's where he takes the advantage from.

Q. What are your thoughts if he is facing Rafael Nadal in the final about that matchup?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, he's just playing -- both of them are playing great match. Federer, he probably has more experience on grass than Nadal. But Nadal, he took him to five sets last year, and he's playing incredibly well right now on any surface. He won in Queen's. The way he's playing right now, it's just amazing because also the grass became slower, so it gives advantage to Nadal. So I think it's gonna be a tough, really tough one. And Roger, he has to play his best tennis to be able to beat him.

Q. Who do you think will win?

MARAT SAFIN: Oh, it's a tough one. A tough one. I would love to watch it because it's gonna be tough. Nadal is playing just too good. Let's see how Roger gonna start the match.

Q. A lot of guys go out there against Federer and get overwhelmed. Looked like you were holding your own with him for long periods. Is that encouraging for you for the future?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, but the beginning was terrible. I mean, like, I should have at least stayed with him a little bit longer. But just, of course, he takes advantage. My first semifinals. I'm a little bit nervous. I'm going to try to play and try to be safe from the beginning of the match and try to stay with him. He put a little bit too much pressure for me to win the first service game and to be able to stay with him in the match. That was the goal. Because eventually he will give you a few easy points where you can just resolve them and just maybe to push him maybe to go to the net, or he will miss it. But 6-3 for the beginning, just a little bit -- a lot of advantage for me to play, and play to win. And then, of course in the tiebreak, the first point was a terrible mistake from the middle of the court. You can't miss these shots against these kind of players. That's what makes a huge difference. When you have a chance you need to go for it. Everybody makes the same mistakes, everybody - except Nadal. That's what makes the difference between Federer and the rest of the players.

Q. Your two breakpoints you could have done a little bit better.

MARAT SAFIN: Maybe, but I didn't expect he was going to serve twice exactly right into my body. I had to attack it. Because two times he just served perfectly to the body. Normally the person doesn't do it. Then I tried to stay back and he just saw it and then he placed the ball, kick wide. So he was great at the breakpoint. He didn't even give me a chance. But I should have done better, that's for sure. Like I said, that's what makes the big difference between us and him.

Q. You said in answer to the first question that you know the game plan, you know what you have to do to beat him. Can you describe that a little bit?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, everybody says his best shot, so based on that. They need to build up the game plan against Federer. I mean, every time he has under pressure he puts the slice, short slice, for you to come into the net. So everybody's always just slicing back to the backhand, and he makes the passing shot down the line, which is a simple one. Or who has a better backhand, they try to spin it a little bit too much. Then of course the frame's coming in and then you missing on the let tape. That's what's happening. Nobody really give him a chance to pass you. That's what's happened today, because we were going a little bit for too much. That's the problem. But rather than that, he is pushing you on the forehand. Slice it to the backhand, you know, with a backspin. So you can't really attack it, you can't really do anything special with it. You can build up the point, but every time you touch his forehand, he start to push you around. So that's basically two free shots that you know that he gonna make it. And every time you have it you miss it. So it's too simple. It's really simple, but you can't do nothing about it. Because every time you have it, you frame it or you put it on the net. It is annoying, annoying. And every time you have a breakpoint and he's really under pressure, he serve the first serve, that's for sure. So it's simple, but disappointing (smiling).

Q. Does this Wimbledon give you confidence you can get back to the top?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, I believe so. I want to take full advantage of it, and I'm trying to look forward and try to accommodate as many matches as I can before I start to play the big tournaments, you know, like the US Open is coming up. You know, you want to be seeded. I want start to do better on Masters Series events, because otherwise I didn't pass the second round last three years. It's a little bit disappointing also. But I think with these matches that I won here, it should help me to get through second round and third round and look forward to beating the big guys.

Q. You said earlier something like you have the money to do whatever you want, and right now what you want to do is play tennis. Talk a little bit about your passion for the game. When did you felt you lost that passion?

MARAT SAFIN: I never lost it, otherwise I would have stopped long time ago really, because for sure I'm not doing it for the money. Nobody's doing it for the cash. I think there's plenty of players that they are doing it because they love the game. Like Ivanisevic. He was ranked a hundred something in the world and he asked for the wild card. He was not doing it for the money.He doesn't really need the paycheck by winning Wimbledon. One million more, one million less doesn't really make a whether. But just we love the game. We love to go on the court. We love to play great matches. We love to suffer and we love to win. That make a huge difference, because after tennis you gonna miss that adrenaline. You know, it's just like point by point, and you are playing, you are playing the game. When the it's over, it's over. That's why it's a little bit tough to leave. It's not about the money. It's not about anything. It's just -- to be able to play and perform on the court I think is a very strong feeling.

Q. Do you have any idea what you'll do after your career?

MARAT SAFIN: Uhm, too many options. Hopefully I will decide the right one. Definitely not commentating, that's for sure.

Q. You said, We love to suffer. What do you mean by that? Overcoming challenges?

MARAT SAFIN: No, it's the challenges. Every time you going on the court, every time you are nervous. Doesn't matter against who you play, anybody, Federer, Nadal, is also getting nervous against any player. This is the first feeling that you can lose, you can win, just beginning of the match. Just whole thing is just whole preparation, practices. You live it. You live tennis. This is the life. It's not only sport. But it's always a pressure. You're dealing with the pressure. And once it's over, you start to miss it. But sometimes, of course, it gets too tough on us. When there's too much pressure, of course it's difficult to perform. But I used to do it for 25 years already, so this is our life. And I think, what you call that, adrenaline, I guess. That's what it's called. It's too strong.

Q. What do you think of the Nadal/Federer rivalry compared to Sampras and Agassi? Do you find it interesting? Or not so good that they're two good friends?

MARAT SAFIN: Very. Just everybody is a friend. Everybody is a friend in the locker room. But it's just interesting to see, because everything depends on the tactics.

Clay court is just too tough for Federer because Nadal, for example, is playing open stance backhand and forehand, so he can't really make him stretch. He cannot do anything. He cannot go to the volley because Nadal is just too fast and he's using the open stance, that's it. But here, for example, he will try to push him, and maybe he has more chance here. But just definitely I think it's more fun than Sampras/Agassi.

Q. Why?

MARAT SAFIN: Because I'm living this generation (smiling). Sampras/Agassi was great, but we were too young to understand that. But we are living it. We are living it right now. We know how Nadal is in the locker room. I can speak to both of them. You know, for us it's a little bit closer. Let's put it this way. Just we feel more about Federer and Nadal than Sampras and Agassi because we couldn't understand it because they were too big for us to be able to live it.

Q. How will history remember Federer and Nadal, do you think?

MARAT SAFIN: I hope one of the greatest. Two of them, they will be the greatest tennis players in the history. Because Nadal didn't lose a match on clay since, I don't know, he was 10 maybe. And Federer, he's going for his sixth Wimbledon. He definitely I think gonna pass the 14 Grand Slams. I hope for him. So I guess I can say to my kids that I played against him. And I think just also two great guys, to be honest. Really down-to-earth. Federer is quite funny. Nadal is also, he's there. No, very interesting. It's good to be with them in the same locker room.

Q. How will history remember Safin?

MARAT SAFIN: Hopefully with the good things. Hopefully good things. (no jedynie dobrze no bo jak inaczej Very Happy

)

Karolka

a jestcoś w wresji video?? Wink

aniqua

Wersja wideo Wink

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

Karolka

dzieki

ladnie mu w tym kolorze Wink

s.

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

Remember Marat Safin, bon vivant? One morning last week, he was spotted outside his Wimbledon rental house ... watering the garden.

wybobrażacie sobie to? Laughing

Kati

Maraciu, słońce ty moje... Przy życiu mnie trzymasz! Laughing

Teraz to naprawdę: żona, dzieci i labrador do głowy mi przychodzą... Very Happy

Karolka

chciałabym to zobaczyć Very Happy