US OPEN

September 6, 2006

Marat Safin

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A long and exhausting match. Do you feel like you left everything out there?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, well, I had my opportunities unfortunately, that's why I'm a little bit disappointed with the way I played today. It should have been even fourth sets. In the fourth set, we made to each other twice a break. The guy everything was on my side. Suddenly, it just slipped away.
Also in the tiebreak, two balls that I missed that cost me basically the match.
So I played pretty well, but in important moments I didn't do anything special and make I missed them, opportunities.

Q. Tommy is a player that a few years ago he was part of that New Balls, Please campaign, a lot of people were expecting big things of Tommy. He encountered some injuries, years he wasn't able to play at all. Do you think he may be coming into his best?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, he been injured for three years I think with his shoulder. It just is difficult to come back straightaway. Then it took him a while. Right now he's more mature. He has more experience, 28 years old. He knows how to play. Basically, he has complete game. He can volley. He can play from the baseline. Good serve. Pretty solid player. So that's why he put everything together. He's focused. Good coach. That's why the results are coming right now. It looks like that step by step he knows what he's doing.
Unfortunately, the injuries I think got him a little bit in a bad position when he was 24, 25. Took away from him his game. He was No. 2 in the world back then.

Q. Obviously, you lose, you feel disappointed. That goes without saying. Considering you have gone as far as you did, to go to a fifth set, play it out like that, can you be satisfied with your performance here?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, if you look in the big picture, the way I played during last six months, right now I'm playing one of my best tennis actually. Just here was in a tiebreak one, two points that made the difference basically. Like I said, it's a lottery. Luck was on his side.
I'm playing much better. I mean, I couldn't think that I would beat anybody coming here, coming to US Open. The way I played the whole summer was terrible. Couldn't beat basically anybody. It was something here, I beat Nalbandian, I beat Rochus that I never like to play against him. I was just a few points away against Tommy. So, overall, it's pretty good.

Q. Can you talk about, when you go out to compete, how much of how you perform is mental, how you're thinking, where your head is. Or, is it a matter of training and how you've been doing and how you wake up that day?
MARAT SAFIN: No, is just not like that. We already in a at a high performance. Professionals, we basically dedicate ourselves, all our lives, to become what we are right now. So everything, it becomes mental after a while. Once you become pro and you become a pretty good pro, it just is not anymore the technique. It's not anymore the serve. It's not anymore the forehand, backhand, or serve and volley, something like that. It's just a mental thing to keep yourself cool sometimes, and sometimes to push yourself to risk it at important moments, or try to stay back and make the right decisions at the right moment.
Because everybody can play backhand and forehand. There's no problem. I think who is tougher mentally is winning basically. So this is just it's already who is better mentally prepared is basically top 10 players. It's unbelievable. They just focused throughout the match. No ups and downs. They know exactly what to do in important moments. That's why it makes such a big difference. Because tennis, everybody has.

Q. While you were on the court, were you aware at all of what was going on in your sister's match?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, they showed a couple of times a few shots from her court, and I was following her.

Q. Can you just talk about the emotions. If she would have won, that would have cheered you up a little bit. It's kind of a double whammy in that sense.
MARAT SAFIN: No, it's okay. She's doing much better than me. She's No. 12 in the world. She made the quarterfinals. She's basically on her way to become a top 10 player in a couple of weeks. So I'm not worried about her. I should worry about a little bit more myself.

Q. Speaking about yourself, how is the knee? Is it a factor still?
MARAT SAFIN: No. Everything's perfect. I'm moving around without any problems, no pain. Just if I continue this way, physically and mentally, I think I can pull it through. But physically, I'm perfect.

Q. I wanted to ask you a little bit about the development of men's and women's tennis in Russia. In China right now, the question is will they ever have a men's player that's so great because the women are going so well. You and your sister have a pretty interesting history as far as experiencing the development of men's and women's tennis in Russia. Are men and women in Russia riding the same wave? Is there a difference in the way the sports have developed for men and women?
MARAT SAFIN: With all due respect, you cannot compare the men to the women. Why is simple. Because the tennis, women's tennis, is a little bit more simple than the men's, unfortunately, you know, with all the respect to the women. It's a little bit easier to become a pro, to become a top hundred player. Right now we have I don't know how many girls, maybe 20, 30 girls, who have their that make it. It's unbelievable.
From the guys, it takes a little bit longer because the competition is a little bit harder. Satellites, futures, challengers, you have to somehow be more stable in the head because a lot of temptations are around. It's difficult to find a sponsor for the guys. Also, you know, like when they young, they want to fool around. That's why a lot of talents, they never became anything.
We have great players in Russia, Juniors, but somehow nobody knows how to explain to them what to do, they should do. All the time I speak to anybody, they come with excuses, I'm not going here, I'm not going there, this one hurts, my wrist, I have another week in Moscow. All of a sudden, you don't see them do anything in a year, they quit. That's just disappointing a little bit.
I think somebody has to put them in the right direction, guide them a little bit, because they don't have much experience. It's disappointing for us because we have really a lot of talents.
The women are more consistent. They work much harder. They dedicate them self fully to tennis and they can stay on the court forever. The guys, it's just way too many temptations.

Q. Is that universal across all the men everywhere, or do you feel that's a specific thing for Russia?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, I'm not gonna talk for other countries, but for Russia right now, what I saw, basically what I saw in Moscow, it's just the way it is. All the time they come with excuse. Everything is just, This week, no, because I'm injured, and then I'm injured again, and then I don't know, maybe, I have no Visa. All the time, the excuses. Nobody will stop them and explain them what they should do. It's just one year, two years, and then everything the train is gone and you can't jump on it unfortunately.

Q. Dinara was in here when you were out there in the fifth set. She was talking just a little bit about the advice you had given her over the years, and specifically about the
MARAT SAFIN: I hope the good advices (smiling).

Q. Well, what have you told her? She was talking about the racquet throwing, how you would tell her to calm down a little bit. Is that advice that you have imparted to her?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, not exactly. She just put it in a different way. But I had some issues with her that doesn't I'm not gonna go into details. But some things I didn't really like, and I really told her, you know, because it's just it's unacceptable from her side to do some things on the court what she was doing before. Right now, she stopped doing that, looks like that. Look at her right now. She was top 50, 50, 60, 40, 30, jumping all around. Right now, she's basically cracking top 10. So it really worked.
So it was pretty good advice, I guess (smiling).

Q. Is it advice you would follow for yourself?
MARAT SAFIN: No, when you're 26, it's difficult to change. You can't teach the old dog to sit, huh?

Q. Does Dinara ever actually attempt to give you advice in any way since she's gotten successful, or is it always older brother/younger sister?
MARAT SAFIN: I'm really not interfering with her tennis at all. She has a coach, and I respect everything. The guy is doing pretty good job. Just I have nothing to do with that, you know. Some things, just outside of tennis, she can come and ask me anything. Inside of tennis, I trust fully Glenn and I think he's the right guy for her. I don't want to mess around and just make him feel uncomfortable and make speak about something which is it's not my job. He's getting paid for this, and he knows what he's doing, and he's doing really good job.

Q. Has she ever given you advice and say, Hey, Marat, you might want to try this? Is that something that would never happen, you're the older brother?
MARAT SAFIN: It would never happen (smiling).

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