adidas International

January 9, 2003

Marat Safin

THE MODERATOR: Unfortunately, Marat had to withdraw from the tournament with a right rotator cuff tendinitis. He's come to explain a little bit the injury which forced him also to pull out of the doubles last night. Questions for Marat, or you want to say something?

MARAT SAFIN: Questions.

MARAT SAFIN: Just it hurts. I cannot serve. For me, it's difficult, you know.

MARAT SAFIN: Since first day I came, but it went for more. So just yesterday I couldn't -- I start to play doubles, and it just -- I felt like I couldn't serve at all - a lot of pain. So I decided to stop, because to play without serve, it doesn't make any sense. So it's better to stop and try to recover so at least, you know... If you play, you play 100 percent, not to suffer on the court.

MARAT SAFIN: I don't know. I have to speak to the doctor. Hopefully I'll be ready for the Australian.

MARAT SAFIN: No, just that I need to stop a few days, you know. I have to be without serve like for three days. So hopefully for Australian Open, for the beginning, I'll be okay. I'll ask for a late start and try to recover.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, I can't -- I can play. I can play forehand, backhand, anything, just without serve.

MARAT SAFIN: Just serve. The momentum that I serve, I hit the ball, I can't serve full power. So I cannot accelerate the ball, and doesn't just -- doesn't make any sense, you know, to suffer on the court.

MARAT SAFIN: No, this is first time. I felt -- the beginning, I felt like was just gonna go away by itself, but it didn't. Go for more and more, so yesterday I just... I couldn't.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, I just go out of the doctor's room.

MARAT SAFIN: Just manual therapy, you know.

MARAT SAFIN: Massaging, then the ice, the patches with - I don't know how you call it.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, not much you can do.

MARAT SAFIN: It cannot be any worse, so it's okay. You know, it happens. So hopefully it's the biggest injury of this year. But still is okay. I think I won two matches, got some confidence. Unfortunately, I would like to, you know -- I start to play better so I was in good shape. But, you know... Better times will come.

MARAT SAFIN: Again?

MARAT SAFIN: I hope so. I hope so, that I will be okay. I hope. I'm not sure, but there is a chance.

MARAT SAFIN: I go to Melbourne for treatment. Flying today and for tomorrow I'll start the treatment.

MARAT SAFIN: Yesterday I pulled out from the doubles and I spoke to the doctor. He said it is even better to retire from singles, so I just said I would like to wait one more day, let's see how it's gonna go. This morning I came here to try, and just I decided not, you know? Because he said it's quite serious. It was better to stop right now than if I will play more, it could be even worse.

MARAT SAFIN: I have to speak with the guys in Melbourne. They have to check again, see how it's going, the treatment. Tomorrow I think they're going to tell me when I'll be able to serve again and just when I can play, you know, when I can play a set at least with practice.

MARAT SAFIN: No, just the doctor on the site. Quite good, quite good doctors. They know the tennis and they know what a tennis player needs so just...

MARAT SAFIN: If I will have to do it, I will.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah. If I will have to do it, for me, no problem.

MARAT SAFIN: Too much practice (smiling).

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah. For last couple of weeks, I practice quite a lot. Also, I'm at gym. It's too much exercise, is what they told me, too much -- just too tired.

MARAT SAFIN: I don't get it...

MARAT SAFIN: In March?

MARAT SAFIN: It's one of the best ideas I think lately I heard. Because, as you can see, it's difficult. We just -- everybody just came out from the preseason. Nobody's really ready. They come to play two weeks before the Australian Open, and basically you're not ready, you're not fit. In March -- but, you know, it's different. It's gonna change all the schedule of the tour, so I don't know how they going to make it. But everybody also is used to come here in January, so it's kind of - I don't know. Some people, they will be agree; some people, they will be disagree. So I'm not sure. You have to think about it. Just it's an idea, I don't know if it's good or bad.

MARAT SAFIN: No, but I just, you know... It's a new idea so you have to think. You have to see if the match schedule is good, what I prefer also for me. Yeah, it's a little bit different. I don't know if it's good or bad, but it's definitely different and maybe there is some pluses and some minuses - like in everything.

MARAT SAFIN: But definitely not too early, you know, not to come here and stay for months because it's too far. But the difference, it's not gonna be too hot, right? It's gonna be -- it's gonna be your autumn, so maybe it's gonna be less hot, you know? Because now, yesterday, for example, it was very difficult to play. The court was plus 40. So that's difficult. For the players, you know, to run on the court for five sets for the guys, that's really tough.

MARAT SAFIN: EPO, is like blood testing?

MARAT SAFIN: No, no, no.

MARAT SAFIN: No, no.

MARAT SAFIN: I'm not supporting that.

MARAT SAFIN: Because we are going for more, every time we are going for more. First of all, we have to go for the urine testing, now we have to go to EPO. I said to the ATP that I don't think it's correct, but they don't really -- they didn't really listen. But what can I do?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, I think so. Because there is some people that they cannot -- you know, not every person can take it, you know, easily. Some people, they get dizzy afterwards. I believe, and I'm sure that nobody needs to take any drugs to be able to play on the court. Is not the kind of sport like, I don't know, cycling, for example, where you have to, you know, go to the mountains for six hours. It's one hour and a half of tennis, is not so much. I think EPO is way too much. The people, way too much.

MARAT SAFIN: That's why you have to take vacations. You don't have to play every week. There is a choice. Is not obligation to play every week. If you are more or less normal person, you play two weeks, you have to take two weeks off. You play three weeks, even four if your body let you, if you are still young, you are 22 years old, why not? You're not 35 years old. You can run, is not a problem. There is enough vitamins, there is enough minerals, there is enough other things to help you little bit, you know, to stay longer little bit on the tour. But we're talking about already EPO like it's like something that's from another world. I'm not agreeing with that.

MARAT SAFIN: I don't know. I didn't speak to anybody about that, but I am the first one -- you have to take it easy. You have to, you know -- it's like somebody's bringing the idea and nobody ask you is good or bad. They said, "We gonna make it. You like it, you don't like it." So we have no options, you know, to say, "No, we don't want." So is just like obligation, you know? I don't think that's correct.

MARAT SAFIN: It's been discussed, but nobody told me, nobody asked me. Nobody care, okay, so... They do whatever they want.

MARAT SAFIN: No.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, I don't have any other option. We'll see in the future how it works. But like I said before, is like some people - a lot of people - for example, Yevgeny, he cannot take it. He cannot have this thing going into your vein, you know. Some people, they get dizzy. If they want to bring it to the hospital, to the Australian Open, to Flinders Park, okay, is gonna be more than one. They're gonna have a big problem with that.

MARAT SAFIN: He can't, he can't. He just get dizzy, he get sick. He just get sick.

MARAT SAFIN: Two months. Two months, two months and a half. Like in every other sport there is a season. Take soccer, take hockey, take NFL, the American football, they have three months off, which is one month and a half of like holidays, and then there is one month and a half of working, which is I think enough. One month and a half is enough to rest, at least to get some motivation back and start working again. Instead of tennis, we have two weeks off. What you can do in two weeks? You can do nothing. Then you have to start to practice again, so you don't have any motivation, then you're not ready, your body is tired and you start again the same routine. So that's difficult.

MARAT SAFIN: Everybody past that. I'm talking about myself.

MARAT SAFIN: I don't know.

MARAT SAFIN: Top events, yeah, I think top events.

MARAT SAFIN: Masters Series, Super 9s, whatever. So at least people, they have time to rest. Then they will be able to play great tennis where at least their mind is clean, clear, you know, and just motivation. The motivation is very important. It's not like any other sport which is like used to -- like in soccer, like all the sports that I said before, they stay the same sport, they have their houses, they travel every week to different cities. But still, at least they still are staying in a country. You are traveling eleven months a year all around the world. You are flying, you're going from the airport to the hotel, the hotel to the courts, court, hotel, fly - again. It's all the time the same thing. If some people, they get, you know, scared of the planes, can you imagine for eleven months, every time you go to the plane, you said, "Oh, my God, another twelve hours of suffering." So you need to rest also of this kind of small things.

MARAT SAFIN: (Nodding his head).

MARAT SAFIN: It's not fair. Some people, they got one month and a half right after the Masters. Even the people who didn't get into the Masters, they had almost like two months of vacations. I get just two weeks. So is like...

MARAT SAFIN: That's difficult, I'm telling you. That's tough, tough schedule. But that's life. That's our job. You have to accept it. I hope in the future there's some -- ATP will do something about it, and they will think about the players.