PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 13, 2005

Marat Safin

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, please go ahead for Marat Safin.

MARAT SAFIN: Quite well. Actually, I won really important points. I saved two match points by volleying, just by going to the net even. Pretty good, actually.

MARAT SAFIN: We're trying. We're trying because you need to adjust something else to your game because everybody coming with a new stuff and everybody's trying to work on all the shots. So you need to work also on the volley, try to improve it, try to come with something new.

MARAT SAFIN: Really, really tough because it's dark. It's also a little too windy, so it's difficult to serve, it's difficult to play from the baseline because one side is going really fast and other side, just the ball doesn't go anywhere. Sometimes it goes slow, sometimes it will bounce high, slow, low. It's a little bit difficult to play with these conditions, especially when it's the first day, because he already played yesterday. And also flying, the ball is flying here. So you need to be really, really careful with each -- with every shot.

MARAT SAFIN: It's not because of Saturday. It's just because I'm playing already for too long. Every first round on any surface is really tough because you need to get used to the court conditions. You see, today's was really windy, so it's really tough. A lot of surprises in the matches. You know, Santoro beat Johansson, so kind of for everyone it's really tough. For some people, it's more easier because they came a little bit -- suits a little bit more this kind of weather.

MARAT SAFIN: No, I think we played really well because he has nothing to lose. He already played one match; he's already used to the conditions more or less. He was going for everything, and he was playing really, really well.

MARAT SAFIN: Not really. Not really. Not really.

MARAT SAFIN: No, because I don't really follow hockey. You know, I respect all the players. I know a lot of players from the hockey, but I'm not really a big fan of it. For some reason, you know, because probably I left Russia a long, long time ago, and I spend a lot of years in Spain, which is a country where the hockey doesn't exist. When I came back, I'm not playing myself. I forgot how to play hockey, so I'm not following it.

MARAT SAFIN: I don't really care. I don't really care.

MARAT SAFIN: I was really disappointed because I was starting to play well. Actually, second set I played pretty good, I mean, for that kind of conditions, you know. And to lose this kind of a match, you know, like to have -- because if you're playing bad and you lose, it's okay. But when you're trying to play well and you lose, it's a little bit bad, especially in a big tournament, it's a Masters Series, you want to do well, a lot of points in the game. I was pretty disappointed with myself, with everything, with the weather, with myself, the way Jarkko was playing.

MARAT SAFIN: Good. I'm really happy that I pass the first round actually.

MARAT SAFIN: Also.

MARAT SAFIN: Today is not really the day to enjoy tennis actually. Even for the spectators, we a little bit freezing. It's not really like the day you really enjoy tennis and you try to do and try to play your best game, because it's really impossible. You need to survive. You need to just hang in there, wait for your opportunities and just win the match ugly, which also counts. And the better days will come, you will enjoy more, you will feel better, and you can show something -- some great skills.

MARAT SAFIN: Thank you.

MARAT SAFIN: Thank you very much. Thank you.

MARAT SAFIN: Obviously, it's John McEnroe. You know the answer. I mean, like nobody could do better than him.

MARAT SAFIN: Why not? He was pretty -- he had a pretty good character.

MARAT SAFIN: Great. I think it's great for the sport.

MARAT SAFIN: Well, nobody -- everybody's allowed to do whatever they want, but nobody wants. Everybody scares. I don't know. For some reason, maybe they're not really up to it, the players. You know, has to come naturally. You just cannot work on it and try to do something funny if you don't have it. You know what I mean (smiling)?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, a little bit. A little bit, yeah. Maybe the rules are a little bit more strict than it should be. But I guess the people who are working in ATP, you know, they have an idea where tennis is going, and whatever they want to do with the tennis, so that's why they are inventing the rules, so can you ask them.

MARAT SAFIN: I was running. I was sweating. I didn't really felt the temperature difference.

MARAT SAFIN: No. I didn't get cold, no.

MARAT SAFIN: Again.

MARAT SAFIN: I think it's confidence. You need to be confident and comfortable when you're going on a court. You need to have a support outside of the court. Because the coach, he can teach you on a practice how to hit a forehand, how to hit a backhand, he can work on the volley, serve, whatever you can do in the practice. But whenever you go to compete, you need to have a support, somebody who is hundred percent behind you, no matter what situation, no matter what the score is. Whenever you need help and support, he's there. That's what he gave me. He's there. I can trust him. He's just fully behind me. This is very important for every player before he goes to the match. Before probably I couldn't -- I didn't really get it because I was a little bit by myself on the court, and when I was not really feeling very well on the court, I had nobody to support me, to really support me. It's not only support actually, it's also how to support. You need to show it. And for that you need to be a professional coach and know what to do, and what you are doing and how to show to the player without showing it.

MARAT SAFIN: Credit to whom? To Roger or to Peter?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, but -- it's not really right to say that. Of course, I'm not going to defend Peter, you know. But also who brought him there? Who brought Roger Federer to be No. 1 in the world? Is Peter. Without taking any credit from the people around Roger right now, you know, the girlfriend, the mother, all the family, and also his tennis skills, I'm not taking any credit away from him. But to be able to get there, you need to have somebody. And he had somebody for six years. So he had such a good base before he got there. So he's basically playing on a base that Peter Lundgren gave him. And of course it's coming, the talent is coming , the mental toughness and all these things that he has right now. He worked for six years, for six years, yeah.

MARAT SAFIN: It depends on the weather. Depends on the weather. If it's going to be windy, it's going to be much tougher when it's hot, because he plays with a kind of a game without any rhythm. So he doesn't really get slice, forehand, serving well, chip-and-charging, you know, like make you feel uncomfortable on the court. Especially with the wind, it's more difficult to pass the player, and it's more difficult to return the serve. If it's going to be a normal day, then it's easier. Because no wind, nothing is bothering you, and it's much easier to play against these kind of players.

MARAT SAFIN: Me, too. He drove me crazy for many years. I'm his client. I lost to him already six times. Last time I beat him. But he's still there. He is a great talent of making people crazy on the court. He is a good anticipation, great anticipation. He knows how to play. He has a lot of years of experience. You can see that even Joachim Johansson, he's in great shape, and he's playing really great tennis and serving well, forehand, backhand, there is nothing really -- nothing is wrong with his game. Manage to lose Santoro. But this weather is really tough to play against a guy like Santoro, yes. Slicing, he doesn't give you any rhythm. He knows how to play.

MARAT SAFIN: Not like last chance, but last big chance, you know, because I don't really -- it came up this way that every match we're going to play we're going to play at home. That's what I meant. Because if you play like outside against the States or you play outside against Spain, I'm sorry, we don't have like three or five No. 10s in the world and Top 20s that can play on all surfaces, and they have a lot of experience of many years. You know, we don't have such incredible doubles. Working on that, but right now, this year, it's our big chance. We might have like, you know, if the people they end up playing, like Davydenko, Andreev, Youzhny, will get stronger and not get nervous in the matches of Davis Cup. Over the years, they're going to have experience, then we have a chance. But, believe me, it's really tough to play for your country, especially in surfaces that doesn't suit you.

MARAT SAFIN: About what? It's like it has to come up from the young players, young kids, you know, who are 15, 16 years old to be able to have -- you have to be ambitious. You need to have goals, to be able to get to top hundred at least. But none of the players that I'm watching now - I've been in Moscow now for quite long, for one month - we have like four kids maybe. I don't know if they going to break through.

MARAT SAFIN: No. These already playing. Two guys Top 20. It's already more or less they achieve something, some level in tennis. But the rest, tennis in Russia, the young kids, I don't know if they going to come up to top hundred because the way they are practicing, the way they are doing things, I don't really see that they're going to become something good out of it. I hope I'm wrong, but is what I see. It's a little bit -- unfortunately is not the way it should be.