NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 27, 2004

Marat Safin

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, but I'm not satisfied definitely with my performance today. I should have won. Unfortunately, wasn't my day today. Luck wasn't on my side. I had chances; I couldn't take them. So that's why Vince, he was all the match there, and he deserve to win.

MARAT SAFIN: No, it's the conditions that you have to accept. I mean, if you want to win. There might be a big change in the weather. Like it's not gonna be so windy for the rest of the week. Also the draw is different. Nalbandian, he withdraw. So it's a little bit open. You have a lot of chances. This kind of matches, you just have to win no matter what, the way you play, even if you play bad.

MARAT SAFIN: It's not like he was serve and volleying. He was just playing on the baseline, try to be solid. I couldn't take my chances. That's the problem. I had my chances in the first set on the tiebreak, a lot of breakpoints, and whenever he had the chance he took it so...

MARAT SAFIN: It was in. But is the same way, it could be on his side and could be overrule. So it's nothing. I have to give him point. It could be other way around, right?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, I'm not shouting at the umpires to say that the ball is out. I was playing and I was like, I was there. I didn't make anything just to show that the ball is out, so...

MARAT SAFIN: No, it has nothing to do. Is just the situation. It's who gonna take the first advantage, you know, the first two points of the game. And if it's 30-all, so of course I'm gonna be a little bit tight because it's like two points away from -- one point away from matchpoint and I can lose it. He knows this, he knows that it's like very important point. So you have to concentrate as maximum as you can. And with a little bit of luck, with a decision that you make, sometimes you have to go for it. He went for it, and he deserve it.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah. But sometimes he was like -- a few games he was returning well and then sometimes he was trying to defense. So basically, it's okay. I mean, you can play with him. It's not like he making winners all over the court without giving you a chance and he doesn't put too much pressure on his serve. On his second serve, yeah, but it also depends the way he serve, how short he can serve, and also with these conditions, for one side the ball is -- the wind is blowing. So it's gonna be -- the ball's gonna be shorter. And then he attacks. But also he went to defense straightaway.

MARAT SAFIN: He's old enough to decide by himself (laughter).

MARAT SAFIN: A little bit of confidence, a little bit of luck. I take my chances that I didn't take the past four weeks. I had chances in all my matches, and I just couldn't take them. Something is missing. Maybe is a little bit of luck, maybe is a little bit of decision in my shots and be more aggressive or be more sure. Confidence.

MARAT SAFIN: The backhand is okay, forehand. But it also matters when I get to the point you have to make the shot, when you have to make down the line or when you have to make short cross-court, you need to have the confidence to do that shot.

MARAT SAFIN: Well, I cannot blame anybody to the draws they have. Of course I don't have the best draws of my life, but this is the situation. But also it happens to them. I don't think they would really like to play against me. But somehow they are beating me. So we are both in the same situation.

MARAT SAFIN: I never played with him. I was looking for my partner because I was supposed to play with Nicolas Escude. He got injured. I was looking around for somebody who was gonna play doubles. He was looking also. So we decided to play, no.

MARAT SAFIN: It's kind of a practice. It's also -- it's more than practice. Of course if you win, it's more than a practice. But it's great. It feels great. But mostly, it's because you can practice your volleying, you can improve serve, return, so just not to forget how to play tennis.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah... Just sometimes you need to do it because you cannot -- because you are boiling inside and you really feel that it would be maybe - I don't know, just improve something. Because you cannot, because you are making mistakes and have the mistakes and you are really trying your best and it's not working this way, your way. So you cannot anymore. I couldn't. So that's why I had to throw the racquet. In a way, it helped me.

MARAT SAFIN: No, I come back. I come back. But didn't do anything special for me.

MARAT SAFIN: No, nothing surprised. I was expecting him to play this way, be solid from the baseline, aggressive on return, serve not bad but not really unbelievable so they cannot giving you any chance on his serve. But he's very solid player. He has a lot of experience. He knows how to play. He knows where to be at the right moment, the right place, the decision he is making. He's a clever, clever player.