TMS - STUTTGART

November 2, 2000

Marat Safin

MODERATOR: Questions for Marat, please.

MARAT SAFIN: I think I had also had one opportunity before, 15-40 on his serve, and I couldn't do anything. I think I did not play well. I did not play tactically well. That was the problem. I played too passive. It was difficult to, you know, win this match playing like this.

MARAT SAFIN: No. You have to give something more than just pass the ball over the net. I had to make something more because he played very well, I think, for his game. He served well. He played from the baseline well. He didn't miss not so many balls. But I couldn't do anything. That was a problem. I just really upset because I lost a big opportunity, you know, to be a little bit closer to No. 1. I couldn't do this. It's a little bit -- you get upset with yourself, because had everything, serving for the set, and suddenly everything changed. That's life.

MARAT SAFIN: No. Tired, no. Tactically, I didn't play well because I just don't -- I didn't make the point. I just pass the ball all the time. Probably I would need some help, but nobody could give me advice. I knew that something I was doing wrong, because is not possible that he beats me from the baseline - but he was beating me from the baseline. Something was wrong. I didn't know what it was. Nobody give me advice.

MARAT SAFIN: What do you mean?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah.

MARAT SAFIN: It's more important for us. We are not thinking about the promote. On the court, if we are winning, we don't think about Kiefer, whatever , the new generation, New Balls. You think about your ranking. I don't want to think about anybody. That's my job. I want to be No. 1. I don't think about Roger Federer or Nicolas Kiefer when I play against Rusedski. "I'm part of it, I'm proud of it." No. Everybody thinks about themselves, because life is tough. If you don't think about you, nobody will think about you. You have to think about yourself on the court, about your life, about what are you doing. If you have opportunity to be No. 1, you have to do this. Doesn't matter New Balls, Old Balls, Middle Balls. Just be No. 1, that's it. Doesn't matter if you are part of this campaign.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, change of generation. I don't want to, because the old balls will get upset. I think it's not nice to say that we're the new generation because we have still the guys like Patrick Rafter, all these guys, 28, 27. They're going to play four years more, for sure, maybe more. New guys coming, but nobody's going. More competition going to be there. More new guys are going to come, and they will try to look for their places in the Top 20. But it's not going to be change, the new game, old, they left, no. It's going to be more new guys coming in, then is going to be tough

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