Updates & More

Hi guys,

I've updated my blog now. News, articles and pics are below!
Also for some more information, live-scoring and more: see the links of several website in the left below.

I also found this report on a certain forum. It's from a girl who was at Miami and she also took pictures of the match. Have a look!

http://www.guyfromrussia.proboards48.com/index.cgi?board=fanreports&action=display&thread=1175099413&page=1

(copy and paste if it's not working)

Keep the faith!

Kisses

Pictures

Here some pictures who are taken when he was pracising in Miami, before loosing to Lopez.
For the link: http://maratsafin.com/content.php?did=9&aid=de34f4ae13c456155d0beb54f807ac35 This link has many more pictures from tournaments before. You should have a look!

News

Sorry sorry sorry... My computer was down for a while, so I couldn't really update my blog anymore! Hope you don't mind.. Here are the latest updates after my latest update!

Marat lost 75 76(2) against Feliciano Lopez on Friday. Marat was very dissapointed. The weather conditions (windy,rainy and a bit hot) were really bothering him. He flew back to Moscow the next day, to practise for himself and the Davis Cup (www.daviscup.com)
Blake also lost in the second round.

Davis cup

Russian team: Safin, Andreev, Davydenko and Youhzney

French team: Gasquet, Mathieu, Llodra and Clement

Few articles from the Davis Cup site:

Battle of the greatest captains? ( http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14138 )

For the third time in three years, Russia and France meet in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, and it once more pits against each other the two most respected Davis Cup captains of the current era.The achievements of Shamil Tarpischev and Guy Forget are being written into the folklore of the 107-year-old competition with every passing year. Indeed some might say they are the greatest captains the competition has known. That is an impossible claim to substantiate, because how do you compare today’s captains with the extraordinary achievements of the legendary Australian Harry Hopman, who captained his nation for 21 years, winning the cup 16 times? Times have changed so much since Hopman’s day that it’s like comparing apples with tennis balls.Hopman never helped to run a country as Tarpischev did when he was Boris Yeltsin’s close aide in the Kremlin in the early 1990s as Russia established its fragile statehood out of the embers of the collapsed Soviet Union. And Hopman, good player though he was, never scored as memorable a victory on court as Forget’s over Pete Sampras in 1991 to give France their first Davis Cup triumph in 59 years.Hopman’s record as a captain is almost beyond comprehension, but two things must be remembered. Firstly, in his day (1949-69) the champions always went through to the next year’s final (the Challenge Round), so in all but five years of his reign Australia only had one tie to play. Secondly, he was helped by a conveyor belt of champions – from Frank Sedgman, through Lew Hoad and Rod Laver, to John Newcombe and Tony Roche – that would make Tarpischev and Forget, or any other captain, green with envy.Nevertheless, both the men who will sit courtside at the Luzhniki indoor arena have maximised the forces available to them with great tactical and man management skill – an increasingly difficult task in an age when the stars play for their country because they want to, not because they are told to. Hopman laid down laws with a draconian fist that today’s captains would never dream of trying to use.“Captains have to realise that the game has changed dramatically in that respect,” says John Lloyd, who captains Great Britain’s Davis Cup team in the Euro-African Zone 1, also over the Easter weekend. “You can’t issue orders like Hopman did. You have to accept that most players have coaches of their own and listen to their needs, but in the final analysis you have to make decisions that you believe are correct, no matter what the consequences.”Neither Tarpischev nor Forget have been afraid to make tough calls. Forget never went as far as his predecessor, Yannick Noah, who fired a player from his team because “he looked so miserable”, but he did read the riot act to some cliques within his squad after France lost to Australia in the 1999 final. By the time the French journeyed to Melbourne just two years later, Forget had created such a good team spirit that Nicolas Escude, aided by Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro in the doubles, led France to a memorable triumph over Australia on a grass court laid in the Rod Laver Arena. The way Forget fashioned that victory set him apart as a captain of the highest order.Tarpischev has vastly more experience than Forget. He first captained the Soviet Union back in 1974 when the global political and economic – let alone sporting – climate was totally different. Despite having some quality players like Alex Metreveli, it was a struggle to compete with the major tennis nations in those days, and it was not until the mid-1990s, while Tarpischev was still occupied with affairs in the Kremlin, that the new Russia started reaching Davis Cup finals. Vadim Borosov captained the Russian team that lost to Sweden in 1994, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s coach Anatoly Lepeshin was in the chair when the USA beat Russia a year later.Tarpischev had a major role to play in the 2002 final. The undemonstrative captain, who normally says little to his players during matches, persuaded the 20-year-old Mikhail Youzhny that the decisive fifth rubber was not a lost cause when he trailed France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu by two sets. Youzhny bounced back to post the only victory from two sets down in a Davis Cup final’s fifth rubber.Yet it was last September, when Russia hosted the USA in the semifinals, that Tarpischev established himself as one of the shrewdest Davis Cup leaders in history. He looked at the world No. 3, Nikolay Davydenko, for whom a claycourt had been laid in Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, decided he wasn’t fit enough to play, and dropped him (by some accounts, not everyone in the Russian camp agreed). Youzhny, taking Davydenko’s place, proved his captain right by defeating James Blake. For his next trick, Tarpischev replaced Youzhny for the first reverse singles against Andy Roddick with the unproven claycourter, Dmitry Tursunov. Right again. Tursunov produced the performance of his life, serving Roddick off the court in the first two sets before squeaking a dramatic victory 17-15 in the fifth.Tarpischev needed to be less bold in the final, but the pivotal rubber proved to be the doubles, in which his gamble of picking Tursunov to partner Marat Safin again paid off. Tarpischev’s players did the work in Russia’s second Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title, but it was a captain’s victory too for the remarkable 59-year-old.

Russia’s top two return to face France ( http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14135 )

Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny will be back in the Russian team for April’s quarterfinal against France, after missing the first round.By recalling world No. 4 Davydenko and Youzhny, currently ranked No. 17, captain Shamil Tarpischev is taking no chances in what will be Russia’s third quarterfinal meeting with France in three years. Also on the team are Marat Safin and Igor Andreev, the hero of Russia’s impressive away win against Chile in February."Now, we have all our top players available, which is good news," said Tarpischev, who also named last year’s surprise package Dmitry Tursunov and teenager Evgeny Korolev, hitting partner for the 2006 final, to the squad.The defending champions will host France on clay in Moscow’s Small Sport Arena "Luzhniki" on 6-8 April. Russia has won their quarterfinal clashes for the past two years, but those ties have always been a close call, Andreev clinching victory against Paul-Henri Mathieu in a fifth rubber in Moscow in 2005, and three of the four live rubbers in last year’s quarterfinal in Pau going to five sets, before Tursunov secured the win against Richard Gasquet in the fourth match.It seems the psychological impact of Russia’s come-from-behind win over France in the 2002 final in Paris has had a far-reaching effects for both nations. For France, it marked the start of a three-tie losing streak against Russia, while Russia has lifted the Davis Cup trophy twice since Youzhny handed his country its first title by recovering from two-sets-to-love down against Mathieu in 2002. Youzhny remains the only man in Davis Cup history to achieve this feat in the decisive fifth rubber of a Davis Cup final.

First Round wrap up ( http://www.daviscup.com/news/newsarticle.asp?id=14128 )

Defending champion Russia fought off a Chilean comeback to make a winning start to the2007 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. The two-time winner eventually overcame Chile 3-2 in La Serena after the hosts had recovered from a 2-0 deficit after the opening day.Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and USA also scored World Groupfirst round victories to secure their place in the quarterfinals, with five of the eight matcheswon away from home.For the first time in the history of the World Group, all eight first round ties were live going into the final day, although only two went on to be decided by a fifth rubber.Igor Andreev was the hero as a below-strength Russian team saw off Chile to end its ten-tiewinning streak at home in front of a packed stadium of 10,000 spectators. The 23-year-old,returning to the team after left knee surgery in April 2006, upset Australian Open finalistFernando Gonzalez 46 64 63 62 on the opening day, before defeating Nicolas Massu 62 6167(1) 64 in the decisive fifth rubber.Andreev said: “We came here to win and we did it, it was not easy. The Chileans should beproud of their players. Now we play at home against France, and I hope we can take advantageof that.”Kristof Vliegen also won a deciding fifth rubber as Belgium withstood a comeback fromAustralia to win 3-2 in Liege. Vliegen defeated Chris Guccione 64 64 64 to clinch victory forthe home team, having upset Lleyton Hewitt 46 64 36 63 64 on the opening day. Hewitt hadkept Australia in the hunt, partnering Paul Hanley to a doubles victory, before battling to afive-set singles win over Olivier Rochus.“It was a tough day with a lot of emotions,” admitted Vliegen afterwards. “I had to go out and do my best, I did my job. My heart was on the court and that helped a lot.”There were more heroics in Linz, where 18-year-old Juan-Martin Del Potro made a stunningDavis Cup debut for Argentina, defeating Austrian No. 1 Jurgen Melzer 76(4) 36 64 46 62 togive last year’s beaten finalists a winning 3-1 lead. Jose Acasuso and Guillermo Canas hadhelped the visitors to a 2-0 lead on the opening day.Del Potro said: “This is the best match of my life. My captain told me on Saturday night that Acasuso was not feeling very well, and wanted to know if I felt ready to play. I didn’t sleep well at all but I think that is normal.”USA set up an eagerly anticipated quarterfinal against Spain after securing its first WorldGroup win on a clay court for almost ten years. Andy Roddick defeated Tomas Berdych 46 6362 76(4) to give the Americans a winning 3-1 lead over the Czech Republic in Ostrava. Thisfollowed Roddick’s victory over Ivo Minar on the opening day and a straight sets win for theBryan brothers.Spain survived the late withdrawal of world No. 2 Rafael Nadal through injury to defeat Switzerland 3-2 away in Geneva. The key to the contest was Saturday’s epic doubles rubber, in which Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco defeated Yves Allegro and Marco Chiudinelli 76(5) 67(3) 67(2) 61 1210 to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Verdasco then overcame Stephane Bohli 63 63 62 to seal Spain’s victory.Two victories for Tommy Haas helped Germany to a 3-2 triumph over 2005 champion Croatia in Krefeld. He overcame an ailing Mario Ancic 26 64 64 64 on the opening day, before seeing off Ivan Ljubicic 62 76(7) 64 in the decisive fourth rubber.Robin Soderling also contributed two singles wins as Sweden scored a 3-2 victory over Belarus away in Minsk. In a dramatic fourth rubber, he saved two match points to defeat Max Mirnyi 67(8)75 67(8) 76(3) 63, having seen off Vladimir Voltchkov 63 76(3) 61 on the first day. Like Chile, this ended Belarus’s ten-tie winning streak at home. In the final contest, two victories by Richard Gasquet helped France to a 4-1 win overRomania in Clermont-Ferrand. Gasquet enjoyed straight sets wins over Victor Hanescu and Andrei Pavel, with Sebastien Grosjean coming from two sets down to defeat Pavel on day one.In the quarterfinals, to be held over the weekend of 6-8 April, Russia hosts France, Belgium is at home to Germany, USA hosts Spain, and Sweden is at home to Argentina. Australia, Austria, Belarus, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania and Switzerland allnow have to contest the World Group Play-offs on 21-23 September in a bid to preserve their World Group status. They will be joined by the winners of the Zonal Group I ties played on 6-8 April.

Marat plays on Friday

Marat will play Feliciano Lopez, tomorrow in the second round, after a Bye. Couldn't get any head to head scores, but the last time they played was at Wimbledon: Marat lost in 3 sets, but he did have a knee injury. Before that they played in the Madrid Masters 2004, Marat won in 3 sets. Schedule not yet launched!

I think this will be a difficult one! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Draw

The draw of Miami is announced. Marat will play either Nicolas Massu or a qualifier. Marat is seeded 25 so his first match will be in the second round. If he wins that one, he could face Blake in the third round (OR a qualifier OR Florent Serra). If he wins that one, he could meet Hrbaty OR Djokovic in the fourth round.

For the draw/schedule/livescores check: www.sonyerricsonopen.com

There are many thoughts about this beeing an easy draw or not. I personally think this is an easy one. Ofcourse nothing in tennis is easy, but with a bit of luck (or not, I don't know who Marat prefers) Blake will lose in the second round. But still Marat has to beat somebody in the second round himself aswell! But if he wants to come back in the top 10/20 he has to come far in tournaments, no matter what. Even with tough draws. Please give me your opinion in my chatbox on the right!

Ranking

On monday, the ATP website updated the ranking list. Marat didn't improve much. He only went lower to 27.

Check this website out for more information about his ranking and others: www.atptennis.com

Last week: 24
This week: 27 (-3)

He has to do some good stuff in his next tourny, if he wants to improve his ranking!

Tournament info

Marat's next tournament will be the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida --> starting on Thursday (March 22 - 01 April, 2007)
The draw size is 96 and the tournament's surface is hard.

To order tickets call: 1 305 442 3367 (or check the website below)

Official website: www.sonyericssonopen.com

Marat flew Saturday to Miami, after a few days practising in LA. He probably will practise there (in Miami), till the tournament starts.

Round/Points/Money

W 500 $533.350

F 350 $266.675

SF 225 $134.400

QF 125 $70.930

R16 75 $37.400

R32 35 $19.730

R64 20 $10.350

R96 5 $5.560

Marat for charity

Marat and a few other (sport) guys have agreed to sign balls, shoes and t-shirts. Then the stuff will be sold at www.ebay.com . All the collected money will go to a cancer fund: National League Against Cancer.

To buy t-shirts, shoes or balls from Marat, Zinédine Zidane, Tim Duncan and the All Blacks, go to: www.ebay.com (you have to search for it there!)

For the real article (which is in French) go to: http://www.sports.fr/fr/cmc/scanner/omnisport/200711/les-sportifs-luttent-contre-le-cancer_127338.html

Pictures 2007

Selection of pics 2007, see post below:

Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells

Tennis Channel Open, Las Vegas

SAP Open, San Jose

Kooyong Open

Australian Open

News & pics

There are lots of new pics from Marat on this link: http://www.maratsafin.com/content.php?did=9&aid=de34f4ae13c456155d0beb54f807ac35 (official website)!
I will post a few here aswell!


Pics from Indian Wells:

Marat lost to Nicolas Mahut: 4-6 6-4 0-6

Who also lost in the second round were: Roger Federer and Leyton Hewitt lost as well! No record for Federer, though.
Marat was very dissapointed loosing already in round 2. Marat will travel to LA on Wednesday, practise there, and then will go to Miami for his next tournament!

Marat's next tournament will be the Sony Erricson Open in Miami http://http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/

Stories about the men's draw

5 stories about the men's draw, from the Pacific Life Open (the stories are from recent interviews from different players).

Check www.thedesertsun.com for more stories, little interviews, comments and funny things said about Marat, other players and the tournament it self.

1.Can anyone beat Federer?
No one has dominated the men's tour like Roger Federer has, and it doesn't look like there's anyone who can challenge him. Andy Murray is the last guy to beat Federer, who enters with a 41-match winning streak. Other possible suspects are Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, James Blake and Fernando Gonzalez. If no one can beat Federer, he will break the 30-year-old record of 46 consecutive victories by Guillermo Vilas.

2.Has Roddick improved enough?
Andy Roddick has regained his spot among the top five players in the world after some down times last year. But being an American, Roddick will be judged by major titles, and for him to win, he has to find a way to beat Federer. Roddick has improved greatly since hiring Jimmy Connors as his coach. But the standard for Roddick will always be 2003, when he won the U.S. Open and rose to No. 1. Roddick isn't there yet.

3.Is Marat motivated?
The one player with the tools to beat Roger Federer is Marat Safin. The big Russian is as complete a player as there is out there, whose weapons can give Federer problems. However, Safin is not always there mentally, which might explain why his promising career has turned spotty. And he hasn't done well here. But if Safin is motivated here, look out.

4.What's up with Nadal?
A year ago, Nadal had defeated Federer on the hard courts of Dubai and reached the semifinals here. However, the world's No. 2 appears mortal this year with a 9-4 record and no titles since the French Open. Nadal needs to start turning it on with the French Open on the horizon.

5.Can Blake validate his ranking?
James Blake comes into the tournament ranked No. 6 in the world, but he still has no titles in a Masters Series or Grand Slam. His best showing in a big tournament was here last year, beating Nadal in the semifinal before falling to Federer. A title would help give Blake's ranking some validation, and he has a good history in the desert.

Marat practising on Pacific Life Open

Marat practising at/for the Pacific Life open, starting today, Friday March the 9th.
* Also see some new pics from Las Vegas on an earlier post.

Time

I always have problems with finding the time-difference between my country and the country where Marat plays. But I found a solution*. It's this website: http://www.timeanddate.com .
You can type any country/city that you like and it gives you the time, date and weatherforcast (and more..) of that city. You can try this, if you want to, for every time Marat has a tournament.

Indian Wells is 8 hours earlier then Londen time (GTM, central time).

* I also added a world time clock, but there are only a few cities in there!

News

From the official website www.maratsafin.com :

Marat has arrived in Indian Wells. He stayed for another day in Las Vegas after his semi finals match and on Sunday evening where he was invited together with his long time friend Sargis Sargissian to visit Andre Agassi's home in Las Veges. Marat spent some time with Agassi who has been away from the Tour since the U.S. Open 2006.
On Monday,Marat started his jourey crossing the dessert to Indian Wells.
On Tuesday, Marat has his first practice in Indian Wells and met with his coach Alexander Volkov and his doctor Sergei.
Marat is now getting ready for his first match.
Good luck MARAT for a new tournament week!
The Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells gets under way from March 5 - 18, 2007 Marat, who is seeded 23 in the tournament will play the winner of Nicolas Mahut (France) or Juan Monaco (Argentine) in his first round match. Prize money $3,285,000 The Pacific Life Open which is the 5th most attended tennis tournament in the world, will feature Electronic Line Calling, along with a player challenge system during the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events.
The tournament is played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Here an article from Sport guardian http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6456074,00.html :

Beaten Safin content with progress
By Simon Cambers

LAS VEGAS, March 3 (Reuters) - Marat Safin lost in the Las Vegas Open semi-finals on Saturday but was still content with his progress going into this month's back-to-back Masters Series events.
The Russian was beaten 7-5 6-1 by Australian second seed Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday but having struggled for form over the first two months of the year, Safin believes he is on the right track.

"It has been pretty good for me," Safin told reporters.

"I didn't play that well in San Jose but now I am hitting the ball pretty well, I just have to work on a couple of things and be a bit patient, not go for too much.

"I think the way I am hitting the ball is pretty good. I made the quarter-finals (In San Jose) and semi-finals (in Las Vegas). Maybe it is not unbelievable, but for me it is pretty good."
Things looked promising for Safin when he broke Hewitt in the opening game of the match but the Russian said his opponent had served well when it mattered.

"I had my chances," he said. "But he came up with good shots at the important moments and he was serving well. I was trying to play maybe too fast, that's why I made a few mistakes."

Good performances in Indian Wells and Miami this month would see Safin return to the world's top 20 from his present ranking of 24.
The Russian said he would be relaxing before making the journey to California for the first of the two Masters Series events.

"I will take two days off and just enjoy Vegas," he said.

www.atptennis.com has a little report about Marat, practising in the sun after a cold tournament in Las Vegas It's on the front page with a nice picture! Go check it out!

Draw Pacific Life Open

PACIFIC LIFE OPEN STARTS FOR MEN ON FRIDAY
09-03-07!!!


The draw of Marat is clearafied. You can find Marat's draw on: http://www.atptennis.com/en/common/TrackIt.asp?file=http://www.atptennis.com/1/posting/2007/404/mds.pdf

Marat is seeded, so he got a bye, which means he will play in the second-round against Nicolas Mahut or Juan Monaco. They will probably have their match on Friday and then Marat will play on Saturday or Sunday.

Marat could meet Andy Murray (14 of the world) in the 3rd round and Davydenko in the quarter-final.

FOR DAILY ORDER OF PLAY:
http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/1/oop/

FOR LIVE SCORING: http://www.protennislive.com/frameset.asp?year=2007&wkno=10&lang=en&tabno=1&eventid=M006&ref=www.pacificlifeopen.com

FOR TV-SCHEDULE: http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/3/tournament/tv/

FOR RESULTS: http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/1/results/


Points:

ATP Ranking Points/ATP Race Points
W: 500/100
F: 350/70SF: 225/45
QF: 125/25
R16: 75/15
R32: 35/7
R64: 20/4
(Seeds: 5/1)
R128: 5/1
(WC: 0/0)
Q: +5/+1
32: 8/0
Q64: 0/0

Schedule

Marat's current (for as far as I know) schedule
2007:


09-18 Mar Pacific Life Open
Indian Wells

22 Mar- 01 Apr Sony Ericsson Open
Miami

06-08 April Davis Cup
Russia - France, Moscow

16-22 April Monte Carlo Masters Series
Monte Carlo

23-29 April Open seat Barcelona
Barcelona

07-13May Telecom Italia Masters
Rome

14-20 May Hamburg Masters Series
Hamburg

28.05-10.06 French Open
Paris

30.07-05.08 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
Washington

25.06-08.07 Wimbledon
London

22-28 October St Petersburg Open
St Petersburg

Las Vegas pictures

Pictures from the Tennis Channel Open (26-02/04-04, 2007) in Las Vegas:

Ranking

Marat's ranking didn't improve this week, but he dit get some points cause he reached the semi-finals. He didn't get enough points to move up (or actually it's down). He needs to get far in Indian Wells to get more points for his ranking.

Last weeks ranking: 24
Current ranking: 24

News

On Saturday, March the 3rd, Marat lost in the semi-finals against Leyton Hewitt 5-7 1-6.

Marat Safin will drive to Indian Wells on Monday, where his next tournament is. This tournament is also a very important one, because it's one of the Master Cup (Pacific Live Open Master Series). He will be seeded.

Here an interview from his official website:

"We have managed to catch Marat after his arrival in Las Vegas and Marat answered some of the questions that for sure will be interesting for his Fans."

Hi Marat, welcome to Los Vegas

A Thank you very much. I had a great drive from Los Angeles.

Q We heard you also drove from San Jose to Los Angeles, why is that?

A I am not too crazy about flying and when I have time I enjoy driving and seeing places. I drove on route no 1 to Los Angeles which was very nice and took photos in Carmel and Monte ray , and the 17 miles drive and all in all it was a very pleasant experience .

Q How was your week of practice in Los Angeles?

A I think it was very good. I worked hard with Miguel, my fitness coach, and it helped me to adjust to the pace of the hard court. In San Jose I started the tournament with hardly any practice because of my late arrival from Davis Cup.

Q When is Volkov joining you?

A Sasha and Sergei my doctor, will arrive on Friday in California and will work with me in Indian Wells and Miami.

Q How are you enjoying Las Vegas so far?

A I've been here before. It's a fun place but I truly care more about the tournament than the rest of the stuff that his city has to offer. I look forward to a great week and hope to see some of my fans in the stands.

"Well Marat, we wish you lots of luck in the tournament and best wishes from all of your Fans."

A. Thanks a lot and thanks to my Fans for all of their support.