Marat did that exhibition this week. It probably didn't turned out Marat hoped to, but he got some experience at least. After all, he changed his way of playing.
Marat lost to Dudi Sela with: 16 46.
Marat lost to Stefan Koubek with: 26 67(5)
Koubek told the press that Marat probably was still tired of snowboarding. He was seen on the slopes for a long time! Pictures aren't there yet... maybe soon?!
Yes guys, it has been a while. Sorry for that. There wasn't really much to tell Let's just begin with the news: A WONDERFUL REPORT FROM VALENCIA From: http://www.maratsafin.com/content.php?did=10&aid=39e2105607dde3a05c9faf1a5d553acd Marat in Valencia, preparing the 2008 season Valencia, November the 26th, 2007. By Alexandra Cardoso for www.maratsafin.com The Tenisval Academy, where Marat grew up as a player and where other names such as Igor Andreev, David Ferrer, Anabel Medina-Garrigues and Dinara Safina also train, is situated in an area surrounded by fields of oranges trees and near marsh lands. It's a quiet place where the only sounds to be heard come from the birds, or the occasional dog barking in one of the farms close by. The grounds are large with 12 outdoor clay courts, 2 greenset ones, a football camp, a handball court and a basketball court, and even a playground for children. In the main building you can find the offices, the restaurant/bar, the gym, and the player's lounge. Closer to the courts is the smaller building of the locker room. All around the facilities there are gardens and shaded areas with trees and grass, giving it a soothing atmosphere. Everywhere you can only see kids in tennis gear, teenagers doing fitness exercises, and hear the soft 'thwock' of balls being hit on the courts. It's the perfect place to focus on tennis and getting fit. The practice I arrived there just in time to watch Marat's first tennis practice and during the whole time it lasted Marat and his coach Hernán Gumy practiced only forehand and backhand ground strokes. From the start it was clear that Gumy's objective was not so much to get winners but to perfect Marat's general movement on court, his footwork and his body posture. With every ball that Marat hit, Gumy kept talking non stop: "On tip toes, hit it on tip toes; now dance, dance! Turn around it, yes, good! Breathe, breathe! Do little steps, little steps!" He kept constantly insisting on the technical gestures, correcting the body posture, and insisting on the finalization of each stroke as a way to prepare for the next: "Finish like this, ok? With the arms extended straight out. And don't lean back when you hit it, finish forward". He exemplified a forehand with the follow through ending over the head whilst jumping back as a gesture to avoid: "You jump back when you hit it and you'll end up taking one step backwards, and then you're at a disadvantage. No. Try to finish leaning forward, ok?" They hit rounds of 8, 10, 12, 15 balls at a time for each sequence. Those sequences made Marat move constantly over the backline: from one side to other of the court, than back again, surrounding the ball to hit it from the other side, and then moving forward again for the next stroke. He sometimes made a remark here and there to clarify something but mainly stayed focused the whole time, repeating each sequence of strokes over and over again. And Gumy was constantly encouraging: "Look how nice that forehand was! Perfect, it's just like that! Good! Great, that's it!" At intervals between rounds Gumy would ask Marat "How much?" and Marat would answer looking at a meter on his wrist: 30,... 36,… 40,… 45… Miguel Maeso was around almost the whole time, attentive to his pupil's physical condition and he too was interested in those numbers. Even though he was totally focused, whacking every ball with intention and power, Marat seemed to be enjoying himself. At every pause to rest and drink water, he exchanged jokes with Gumy, with Maeso and with his friend Daní (who was acting as a ballboy), and with other coaches and fitness trainers that happened to walk by. He cursed once or twice with jokes directed at Daní, to which the other one responded by pretending to hit a clownish forehand back at Marat. Everybody was working hard (Gumy and Maeso were already discussing Marat's schedule for the rest of the day), but they all kept a good mood. For example, at one point, when Gumy and Daní were picking up all the balls that were scattered around, Marat grabbed one ball and gave a wicked look at Daní, who was approaching him with a stack of balls pilled high on a racket. He made no gesture, only looked, but Daní read his mind: "Oh, come on! You're not going to hit me with that! At least let me drop the balls in the basket first!" A little while later, it was Maeso who decided to sit on the double bench where Marat had been sitting, but he sat on the other side and almost fell flat on his back. "What the heck! This thing is dangerous!" "Yeah, I noticed there's something wrong with that side of the bench. Take care, if you sit there you could get hurt." said Gumy. "Marat, sit here!" was Maeso's immediate command, said jokingly! But Marat, wisely, pretended not to listen. We are real persons 2 hours later, when the training session ended, Marat was drenched in sweat but the spirit was positive. He confirmed the schedule for the afternoon with Miguel Maeso and Hernán Gumy and then started packing his things. As soon as he was ready to leave the court he called out to me, saying we could talk now (I had asked earlier if he could spare a few minutes and he had agreed). We sat on the bleachers, side by side, and I started by asking him how it had been in the two weeks of fitness that he had just done: MS: "They were ok." AC: "What did you do exactly?" MS: "We did 3 sessions every day of fitness and physical training. Fitness exercises, gym work, beach…" AC: "Beach?" MS: "Running on the beach." AC: "And now? What will be the schedule from now on?" MS: "Now we will be doing 4 sessions everyday, 2 of fitness and 2 of tennis/physical." AC: "How will a typical day be, today for example?" MS: "Well, today it was first breakfast, then leaving the hotel at 9h45, then getting here and doing fitness training, then tennis, then rest and then more fitness/physical in the afternoon." AC: "How long will you be here for?" MS: "Until the 27th"[of December]. AC: "So, you're not going to the Davis Cup…" MS: "No. I'm not ready. I'm not fit right now to face Roddick or Blake." AC: "…and the Bryan brothers…" MS: "…or the Bryan brothers." At this point Marat's expression turned a bit sad when he spoke about DC. I imagine he wished he could be there to help his team as he always had before, but he didn't feel he could be a valuable asset for them at this point. Changing subject I then asked what was that thing on his wrist that he was constantly checking during practice, and what was it measuring. MS: "It measures the heart rate. It's important to be aware of your body. It's not a machine, so you have to pay attention to the effort because you don't want to overload your heart or your muscles." As he was explaining this he suddenly took off his t-shirt, quite naturally, and wiped himself with it before putting on a new one, and I could see strapped across his chest a Velcro band where the heartbeat reading device was attached to. AC: "How were your vacations?" MS: "They were good. I had time to sort out a lot of things I usually don't have time to do because we are on the road the whole year." AC: "And did you have time to forget about tennis? Make a 'reset' to the mind?" He gave me a half smile: "Mainly I had time to organise everything that has to be organised. Sometimes people think it's easy for us, that all we have to do is play but we are real persons, with things we have to take care of outside of the court." AC: "I sometimes think you guys are portrayed almost as cartoon characters, stereotypes, and not real persons." Marat smiled: "We are real persons, with normal lives. Tennis is just our job, just like other people have their jobs. The only difference is that we are lucky to appear on TV." I don't like to read about myself We had gotten up and were walking towards the locker room when the conversation turned to articles and the things people write about him. MS: "I don't like to read about myself. People have their own ideas, and that's ok. Sometimes they write good things and sometimes they write bad things, and then it doesn't matter how much you try to do to make them see how things really are because it doesn't work. You can't change how others think." AC: "I always thought everybody has preconceived ideas about everything, so maybe that's it; they just end up writing about what they think is the truth." MS: "Yes, but if you start paying too much attention to what people say about you, you risk getting too much involved in that, on how others see you, and that's not good for you." We had reached the locker room and I thanked him for his time and wished him all the best with his preparation for the new season. He thanked me as well, gave me a nod and a kind smile and went inside. I then came away and as I was leaving the premises I passed by 2 or 3 teenagers from the academy who were jogging along the road. I couldn't help think of all the times Marat must have done that same thing, jogging along the road that passes between the orange tree fields. Maybe he had done it already that day or was going to do it later. After all, this was just the first day of training, back at the academy! OFFICIAL UPDATE, WWW.MARATSAFIN.COM From: http://www.maratsafin.com/content.php?did=10&aid=8a15fea0edc158b540e5a283ff767686 3rd December 2007 Marat's fitness training went well and he has lost 5 Kgs. He is slimmer, trimmer and raring to go. He and Hernan are so pleased with the way practice has gone that they have decided that Marat needs some competitive matches before going to Australia to begin the new season. Marat will be at the Tennis Trophy at St Anton am Arlberg from 10 - 15 December. The actual exhibition runs from 12 - 15 December. It is called the "The greatest Tennis Party of the World" and there are both male and female participants. St Anton is a well know winter sports area particularly for skiing and they have for 20 years combined this with a tennis exhibition for men and women at this time of the year. Last year Novak Djokovic was there. As there has also been a lot of snow lately in the area, Marat is looking forward to trying snowboarding - now that he is lighter he feels he can do it! He is already a very good skier so this is something else he would like to try in wintersports. Apart from the tennis that is. This tournament is held indoors and will be a good preparation towards starting the year in Australia. Link to the Tournament Website is www.tennistrophy.net The site is only available in German. Marat will travel to Melbourne Australia on 3rd January 2008.
Basketball Court
Football Camp
Playground
Main Building
The Courts
Always positive and enthusiastic, after every round of balls Gumy would draw lines on the ground to show the position he wanted Marat to hit from, and then he would give a new sequence of strokes: "Now: two crosscourt forehands followed by one backhand down the line" or "One forehand inside out, one forehand crosscourt and one backhand down the line", "Ok, now one forehand crosscourt, one down the line and one backhand crosscourt".
The Locker Room
The Grounds
Practice has been going very well in Valencia and Marat and Hernan Gumy are pleased with the progress. The relationship of coach and player is progressing well.
As was seen in the photos that Alexandra Kindly provided from Valencia,(see her article Marat in Valencia preparing for 2008) Marat has changed racquets and is using the new Microgel Prestige which should be on general sale from January 2008. Marat is very very happy with this new racquet as it has a very similar feeling to the Prestige Finesse he used in 2000 and had so many good results with. It feels good to use.
Marat descided to stop for this season. He'll have a few weeks and will practise hard afterwards. Look below for an explaination and other important stuff!
From OS: Marat was not very happy with his standard of play at the Madrid Masters and has decided after discussion with his coach Hernan Gumy and his management that it would be better to finish his 2007 season now. His mountain adventure which he thoroughly enjoyed, took him out of his rythm and also left him with no energy. He thought he was ready coming back in Moscow but found that the stress of playing back to back tournaments was too much and his body just was not ready to cope with it. He thought he could play at a good level but it didn't happen.
He will take some time off to get his energy levels back and then in 3 weeks time will meet with his coach and they will spend a long period of practice time in Valencia - cleaning up his game and working hard on his approach, his work ethic and his general attitude to the year ahead. The intention is to be ready for the Australian season. Marat knows his ranking will drop but feels it is better to get himself ready for the new season rather than push at this stage.
He will not play in the Davis Cup Final in the US. Basically the Davis Cup team left it up to him to make the decision and Marat decided that right now there are 4 better players than him who are in form and can make sure they play to the best of their ability for Russia. Recently Davydenko won Moscow again and Tursunov won in Bangkok - both on hardcourts which is the surface that the Final will be played on. Marat was proud to be involved in the run up to the Final and has every faith in his fellow players that they will perform to their very best ability for Russia and make it a hard contest against the US.
Marat would like to say thank you to all his fans for their love and support this year through the difficult times and hopes they will continue to support him as he strives to find the level he needs to play well again.
After this message from Marat on the OS some cruel guy wrote an horrible article. Read below the article and the reactions from Marat on that.
Article from www.tennis.com
Dear Marat:
What’s up? Hope all is well. You must be in a good mood today after Russia¹s upset win over England in the UEFA game, huh? Big surprise, but then it¹s never easy for a visiting team to win in Moscow.
I saw you on TV this week, at the Madrid Masters. Looking good. You’ll be rocking the ’fro in no time.
After yet another early loss in Madrid this week, is it time for Marat Safin to think about packing his bags for good?© Jasper Juinen/Getty ImagesBut listen, I’m writing on a more serious note. Let me be blunt: You’re a mess, man. You haven’t won more than two matches in a row since mid-July, and your best result this season was in February when you reached the semifinals of Las Vegas. Fitting, since you’ve been coming up craps ever since.
It’s the same story with you: another week, another miserable loss. In Madrid you, big guy, lost to an even bigger guy, Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, in 59 minutes. What, were you double-parked?
I could cut you some slack, since the 6-foot-10 Karlovic is a nightmare to play on an indoor court, but you obviously didn’t go into the match with much hope. What was it that you said? Oh, right, “I [didn’t] expect anything from this one. Just finish the year and that’s it.”
Ah, the power of positive thinking.
You’re killing me, Marat. Lately, you’ve been as committed to tennis as Hugh Hefner is to monogamy. And when you do play, it’s been painful to watch. Please, explain your flameouts this season to Feliciano Lopez, Kristof Vliegen, Janko Tipsarevic, Hyung-Taik Lee, and Nicolas Kiefer. Journeymen, each and every one of them, and you barely put up a fight. Which is more than I can say for your performance against Nicolas Mahut in Indian Wells, Calif., where you posted a bagel in the third set. That’s actually quite impressive. On some level, it’s harder to find a way to lose a set at love than it is to scratch out a game or two, especially with your firepower.
It’s all leading me to believe that you should quit tennis. I don’t mean temporarily hang up your racquet so you can go on a farcical journey in the Himalayans to regroup, reenergize, and refocus—clearly, you’re incapable of that. You should pack up and never return.
Marat, this isn’t an easy thing to say for me. Ever since you crashed the scene in 2000, blowing Pete Sampras off the court in the U.S. Open final—a victory that was at once brutal and artistic—I’ve been a big fan. No one hits a cleaner, heavier ball than you, and it’s been refreshing to have a top player with a fiery, melodramatic personality. You’ve got soul, unlike your compatriots Nikolay Davydenko and, before him, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who treat the game with a stone-cold business-like efficiency.
But your “why-me” theatrics have grown tired. Boris Becker played the role of Hamlet, too, pitching his head to the sky after a mistake as if some otherworldly power was torturing him for kicks. The difference was that Becker was a winner throughout his career.
What's with the ’tude, dude? You’re like a teenager who’s way too self-absorbed for his own good. When you were recently asked about the gambling investigation in men’s tennis, which strikes at the very core of the sport’s integrity and deserves an informed response from all of the top players, your response was weaker than an Elena Dementieva second serve. “To be honest,” you said, “I don’t really care. Whatever people do and whatever they want to do, I don’t care. If the world collapses, I don’t really care. I have enough problems myself. I can’t worry about other people’s problems.”
Never mind that this is the kind of thinking that gets us all into trouble in every facet of life – like, say, a war in Iraq – it shows a lack of respect for the sport that made you a millionaire in the first place. Even John McEnroe, Mr. Ego himself, cares (or at least pretends to care) about tennis.
Look, Marat, I know you’re hard on yourself—self-criticism is in your blood, ingrained over many formative childhood years by your mother and the severe Soviet system. Positive reinforcement? It didn’t exist in your universe. You’ve even said, “I didn’t care to play tennis, didn’t really like it.”
And I know you’ve always struggled with the high expectations that came from beating Sampras. You should be No. 1 if only you apply yourself, or so goes the conventional wisdom. It seems to me that you’ve chosen to diffuse this talk by playing so horrendously that no one can even entertain the thought of you challenging for majors anymore.
That’s a sad commentary on your career. Didn’t you get any perspective when you ditched your Davis Cup mates in September to trek up Nepal’s Cho Oyu mountain, only to quit at the base camp. I can only imagine how miserable you were, and how miserable you made your fellow hikers on that journey, when you discovered that climbing a mountain is, like, real work.
Tennis is hard work, too. You can’t keep playing meathead tennis, rallying without many changes in pace and placement, and expect to win. You’re good, but not that good.
I came across a quote yesterday from Paul Annacone that was apropos of your career. “My old boss said to me once,” Annacone says, “the definition of how good you are is in three areas: your head, your heart, and your talent level.”
What’s the average of a D, F, and A? We’re talking only slightly better than Marcelo Rios here.
Don’t laugh. He won 18 career titles; you’re at 15. Granted, you’ve got 2 majors, while Rios never won a Slam. But you both share that absurd, petulant attitude, which undermines everything you do on court.
Hey, man, it’s your career. But you’re 27, and if you can get healthy you might want to dig in for a year or two before your body, or mind, or both, totally conk out. No regrets, right? Otherwise, spare your fans the heartache and join Yevgeny at the poker table.
Later,
James
From OS:
Dear Fans
A lot of things have happened lately and with the season finishing early for Marat after some difficult times, we would like to share Marat's thoughts and vision for the upcoming year with his fans. And also to give our response to an insulting article recently published on a well known site which some of you have seen and commented on.
Marat has decided with Madrid to end his season mainly because of the following facts.First of all to give a complete rest to his wrist. It is still niggling and he does not want to further aggravate it at this stage because he does not want to go into next year with the niggle and does not want the wrist to bother him next year.Secondly he felt with all that has happened in the last year, it would be wiser to start his "off" time earlier than usual and also to be able to start his preparation much earlier to ensure than he is of maximum fitness for challenging 2008.
As we wrote in the article before he truly feels that the Davis Cup team has four players better than him and his absence will not be felt that much as there are the people willing and able to take Russia successfully through the final.
For this reason he made his decision and will stick to it. He will be supporting the team in spirit and willing them on.
Recently an article was published on the Internet by the editor of tennis.com under his "Viewpoint" which was trying to put a smear on Marat's situation plus making recommendations re things he should do for the future.This "article" was written by someone who pretends to be a fan of Marat Safin.
Neither Marat nor his website has ever in the past made a point of commenting on things that appear in the media because throughout his career Marat has always maintained a great relationship with all channels of the media - be it written, TV or radio - always been available when asked for interviews etc, respected their work and treated them with dignity.
Now for the first time an article is written on a "respected" website and this article was full of hate - really patronizing and vicious in its comments and aimed at hurting Marat, his reputation, his past contribution and achievements in the field of tennis.
Marat himself was very insulted by this article that was brought to his attention for the very reasons stated above.
To try and attempt to under estimate Marat's past achievements in tennis and for his country and to try and present him as someone who doesn't respect the game of tennis or what tennis has done for him, is totally misleading and a deliberate attempt at muck raking.
Marat loves the game of tennis ( the reason why he came back to play this year even though he had decided after the US Open to write the rest of the season off). On every occasion during interviews he has always said how much tennis has done for him and how grateful he is for the life it has given him. To imply that he doesn't care is a total misrepresentation. There aren't too many players around the world today that can proudly present two Grand Slam Titles, Five Masters Series Titles and Two Davis Cup Titles for his country.
One of the reasons why Marat's popularity has always exceeded his ranking was not only because of his cheerful smile (and he really does have one!!) but also his kindness, honesty and most of all his sensitivity which all make up the personality which so many people want around on the tour these days.
We his team, friends and fans have all been insulted by the inferences made by the writer in his "Viewpoint". As the editor - what right does he have to make such damming innuendos about Marat? And to say he should give up and go play poker is such that the man who "wrote" this has no idea as to the actual man Marat Safin is.
We are all open to criticism and opposition from others but not when it comes in a wrong and unjustified manner.
Many fans of Marat have expressed their disgust at the manner of the writing of this article and while certain points are the truth - the innuendos made are not.
Marat is the first to be aware of his situation, his obligation to tennis and the challenges still lying ahead of him. If he wasn't committed to tennis he wouldn't be even thinking of them. He looks forward that together with hard work and your (the fans) support, 2008 will be a successful year for him. More than once in his career - mainly after his injuries - there were people who slated him and said he should retire. But Marat has no need to prove anything to anyone and as it happens he enjoys and is committed to the sport of tennis he loves.
He will do his utmost to bring a smile back to the faces of his fans once again. And lets all keep holding on to that thought that the man who has brought us so much joy will do so again.
As so many people keep pointing out - tennis needs him and one insincere "fan" is not going to stop Marat's commitment to bring joy to those who love tennis.
Marat would like to say once again to his fans with deep sincerity -
"Thank you for all your support and for being there for me during this time."
Webby and his team
From: http://sport.independent.co.uk/tennis/article3067175.ece
Karlovic's peak proves beyond limited climbing skills of Safin
By Paul Newman in Madrid
Published: 17 October 2007
When you have been scaling Himalayan peaks, confronting a 6ft 10in man mountain might not seem too daunting a challenge. Ivo Karlovic, however, is in a rich vein of form and the tallest player on the men's tour needed less than an hour at the Madrid Masters here yesterday to dispose of Marat Safin, who returned recently from an expedition to climb the world's sixth highest mountain.
Not even the thin air of Europe's highest capital – Madrid is 646 metres above sea level – could help the 27-year-old Russian as he lost 6-3, 6-4 under a barrage of aces from Karlovic, who claimed his third title of the year in Stockholm on Sunday. It continued an indifferent season for Safin, who reached the third round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon but has failed to win more than one match at any other Grand Slam or Masters series event in 2007.
The former world No 1 has always been one of the tour's more unpredictable characters and when a wrist injury put him out of action after the US Open he took the opportunity to join some friends setting out to climb Cho-Oyu, an 8,201m mountain on the border between Nepal and Tibet. At the time he said he hoped the experience would "renew my resolve and my powers for tennis".
Safin scaled a 4,100m peak as part of the acclimatisation process, but when the expedition moved to base camp to begin their assault on Cho-Oyu, which would have taken a month to climb, he decided to return home. It took him five days to climb back down the mountain and return to Moscow.
"I was there for less than two weeks," Safin said. "It was a good time to decide to come back. The conditions are really tough for someone who is doing it for the first time. The second time it will be easier."
He added: "I thought it was a good time to go. It was a great experience. Next time I decide to go I will be better prepared. Maybe next year."
When asked what he had gained from the experience, Safin replied: "It's hard to explain with words. You have to be there to understand how it feels." He said he felt "rejuvenated as a person as well as a player" and quoted a Russian proverb: "It's better to see one time than to hear 100 times."
Safin won the US Open in 2000 and went to the top the world rankings the following year, but his career has been punctuated by injuries and he has not won a tournament since beating Lleyton Hewitt in the Australian Open final in 2005. His best performance this year was a run to the semi-finals in Las Vegas in February.
This was his second tournament back after returning from Kathmandu. He played in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last week, beating Denis Matsukevitch, the world No 422, before losing to Igor Andreev in the second round.
"My aim for this season is just to finish the year, that's it," he said after his latest defeat. "I don't know where I will play next as I need to ask for a wild card. I just want to finish the year and start slowly preparing for 2008."
Karlovic, who now meets another Russian in Nikolay Davydenko, is one year older than Safin, but his career is heading in the opposite direction. This was the Croat's ninth win in his last 10 matches and he has climbed to a career-high No 24 in the world rankings. Roger Federer is the only other player who has won on three different surfaces this year.
Yesterday's tally of 17 aces took Karlovic's total for the year to 1,152. Only one player has ever hit more in a single season, Karlovic's fellow countryman Goran Ivanisevic having done so in 1996 and 1994, with 1,477 and 1,169 respectively. No wonder Britain were grateful that Karlovic did not play in last month's Davis Cup tie at Wimbledon because of a dispute with the Croatian federation.
Marat had a tough first round: Ivo Karlovic, who won his 3rd title last week in Stockholm, Sweden. Marat did his best, but is just not fit enough for these players. And with 17 aces and 72% as first serve in, it's hard to beat someone like that if you feel low yourself. The match took less than an hour and Marat lost with: 36 46. Better next time Marat! Keep your chin up! But unfortunatley this loss is really bad (worser than other losses) because he had to defend a lot of points here (last year he reached the quarters) so this is pretty bad for his ranking. He's now nr. 36 of the world, but because of his loss yesterday... it won't get any better!
Now a bit optimistic news: Marat asked for a Wild Card (WC) for St. Petersburg, which is from 22 October till the 28th. Hopefully he can get that one! More coming soon.
Place: Madrid, Spain
Date: October 15-21, 2007
Draw Size: 48
Surface: Greenset
Prize Money: €2,082,500
Tournament Director: Manolo Santana
Ticket Hotline:+34-91-526-5776
Website: http://secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/b?ci=us-atpclick&cg=tp&tu=http://www.mutuamad-mastersmadrid.com
Round/Points/Money
W 500 €340,000
F 350 €170,000
SF 225 €85,000
QF 125 €42,000
R16 75 €21,250
R32 35 €11,800
R48 5 €5,930
Past Winners:
SINGLES/DOUBLES
2006
Roger Federer
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan
2005
Rafael Nadal
Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor
2004
Marat Safin (!)
Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor
2003
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Mahesh Bhupathi/Max Mirnyi
2002
Andre Agassi
Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor
As you know, Marat joined the draws in the Kremlin Cup. He already played four matches: round 1 singles: beated Denis Matsukevitch with 76(2) 75, round 2 singles: lost to Igor Andreev (this was today) with 46 46. He also played doubles with Dimtry Tursunov; round 1: beated Evgueni Korolev and Igor Kunitsyn with 75 63, round 2: beated Oliver Marach and Michal Mertinak (seeded 4th) with 63 64. They'll now face Grosjean en Tsonga in the semi-final. Shamil Tarpischev, captain of the Russian Davis Cup team, wanted a good double team for the Bryans (nr. 1 of the world) in the Russia-USA final in November. In the beginning, Tursunov was planning to play doubles with a whole other partner then Marat! So this could be meaning, and especially because they're doing well in this tournament, that they have a place in the team at least for the doubles!
Marat is playing the Kremlin Cup 2007!
He plays singles against a qualifier in the first round!
He plays doubles with Dima and they play Evgueni Korolev and Igor Kunitsyn in the first round!
For the whole draw: http://kremlincup.ru/on-court/draws/te-m-m-doubles-z-maindraw-z-z-z-z-draw-lat.shtml
For official website: http://kremlincup.ru/index-eng.html
Enjoy this tourny everyone!
