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WIMBLEDON

July 2, 2008

Marat Safin

LONDON, ENGLAND

M. SAFIN/F. Lopez
3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. A lot of people had given you up for dead not long ago. Here you are in the semis. Tell us a little bit about how you turned it around.
MARAT SAFIN: Well, I also start to think that I lost it completely because the way I played for past year. I didn't really -- nothing worked until I changed the coach, I tried to do something different, you know, I didn't have any expectations.
And, well, also the beginning of this year nothing really came up. You know, I've been losing first rounds left and right. I was really desperate and I didn't know what to do.
Then all of a sudden just out of nowhere I started to play better on the clay court season and the confidence started to come. I had bad draws throughout the clay court season. I played against Ferrer, I played against Davydenko in the French Open.
But the way I started to play, I started to feel much better on the court, and just started to get much more comfortable on court.
That's the only thing.

Q. It's ironic it would happen in Wimbledon, isn't it?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, it happens. Shit happens (smiling).

Q. The match today, he played short to the backhand. How tough was it to play that?
MARAT SAFIN: He's a really uncomfortable player. He's a lefty. He slices really well. He just changes the rhythm all the time. He serves well. Puts a lot of pressure on the slices. Also he's experienced so he knows what to do. He plays really smart.
Of course, it's uncomfortable because you cannot lift it up a lot; you cannot attack; you cannot do anything special from this; you cannot go to the net.
Basically just to play it back until you have the short one.
Just it took me one set and a half to get used to it, because also the serve I couldn't see. So there's a lot of pressure also from my serve just to stay in the match.
But he's really, really smart and experienced. Also his game is perfectly for grass.

Q. You win a Grand Slam; you get injured; you play not so great; win a Grand Slam; injured; play not so great. Does the career of Marat Safin sometimes surprise you?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, I'm surprised that I'm still here, you know. I'm surprised that I won two Grand Slams. The way things looks in '95 it didn't really look so great. So thanks God to the people they really believed in me and they give me the money.
This is ironic, you know. Because if nobody believes in you they don't give you an extra $10,000 and basically your career is gone and then nobody would think you would be the Russian champion of US Open and Australian Open.
So it's kind of -- if you look back, you're really kind of surprised with yourself. Doesn't really matter how many injuries you had. The career have been great for me. Tennis has been great.

Q. Is it more interesting to have a career like this?
MARAT SAFIN: I prefer to have the career of Federer, of course. But I have to deal with the things that I have in my life, you know. A lot of injuries left and right. I'm tired of making comebacks every year.
Just it's annoying, but that's my career. That's my life for the good and for the bad. But I'm managing to enjoy it.

Q. Do you think the rain break helped you? You seemed a lot calmer when you came out after the break.
MARAT SAFIN: I was really nervous in the beginning because he's really uncomfortable for me. I lost to him four times. I beat him once in Madrid like maybe four, five years ago.
I don't like to play against him because, like I said, he changes the rhythm. He's just uncomfortable. Serving well. You know, chip and charge sometimes. So you never know what you gonna expect the next point.
I was under a lot of not pressure, but I was nervous because I wanted to do well. I thought that's my opportunity to get into the semifinals. It cannot get any better than that. I need to take it. I was way too nervous to perform.

Q. Looked almost old school at times, serving and volleying a lot. People are saying the courts are so slow. What gives with that?
MARAT SAFIN: I had to change something just to not lose the momentum, try to make him think a little bit more. It doesn't mean that I'm gonna do it for the rest of the match, but just for a couple of games so he thinks a little bit and try to maintain yourself in the game.
Just to hold with him, because eventually he will have a few points that he will miss the first serve and I will have a chance to play from the baseline.
But for that you need to hold your serve. I really didn't really serve really well today, so I had to mix it up with something, just think about something, because from the baseline I wasn't really, really great at beginning.

Q. How much of your happiness overall has to do with winning?
MARAT SAFIN: I'm 28. 28, a lot of things already happen in my life, you know. I'm not gonna be excited of winning just another match, just running around with a big huge smile. But just for me it's more like a relief, you know, that I made it -- first time in my life the semifinal of Wimbledon.
But it's great. It's unbelievable. So it really means that I can play on this surface. Of course I'm happy, but just it's a different happiness. It's not the same when you're 20 years old and the first time you make the semifinals. You think you are flying. You are not even touching the ground.
But now it's a little bit different. It's nice, of course. You need to enjoy it, but it's a different way.

Q. But for a guy who's won Grand Slams then, the bigger happiness has to come from the major titles, beating the best players.
MARAT SAFIN: It also the same thing. When I won the Australian Open it was a big relief. I wasn't happy. I was just, Oh, my God, thanks God I won the second title, because I lost already twice the Australian Open. I needed already the second Grand Slam.
I was under so much pressure in the final that I couldn't even walk straight. It was a little bit too much, you know, too much of a pressure and you don't really can enjoy it while you're playing. Sometime it's a suffer.
Of course, when you're playing great everything, it's unbelievable. 20 years old, nobody expects anything from you and you're beating Sampras in the final of New York. It's a different story.
But then afterwards, like five years later, people are talking around what's gonna happen? He doesn't win a Grand Slam. What's happening to him? So for me it was a big relief.
Here I'm happy because it's also big relief for me that I'm 75 in the world and now I'm top 50, so I'm happy. But I'm climbing back. I want to climb back to the top 20. That's my goal right now.
But to be happy that I'll be smiling for the rest of this season, I don't think so. A lot of work to do.

Q. Does this tournament prove to you once again exactly how good you can be and can still be? Roger said your ranking is ridiculous.
MARAT SAFIN: Okay, he can sell me some points. That's his. But if you're not winning match you're dropping in the ranking. Also I lost so many matches that I've been very close to winning, and then just something slipped away. That's it, the momentum is gone and you lose the confidence.
You are finding yourself 79, 80 in the world. I was 95 even this year and I had to play quallies in Hamburg. This is really touch the bottom, to start to play quallies in the tournaments. This is really too much.
But I made the choice. Now people, they thought what am I doing? Don't play this way. But I went there. I qualified. I got paid for this. I guess this tournament is payoff for the Hamburg quallies. It's worth it.

Q. How close are you to your best level?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, the way I played against -- throughout the week I had some tough matches. For example, against Seppi, he's a great player. Wawrinka, I never beat him. Also against LÃ³pez, I think it was a principal match. Also is a lot of pressure, like I said before. I think I've been playing great tennis and very close, playing one of my best tennis.
But just a little bit more, just a little bit better serve, and just to mix it up a little bit with the volley I think it would be great.

Q. How do you see your semifinal with Federer shaping up? Do you believe you can beat him at this tournament?
MARAT SAFIN: You winning four matches and now you're starting to challenge the Federer. I don't think -- I'm playing semifinals, but that doesn't mean that I have a chance there, because the guy has won how many times already here? I mean, five, six times already, and he's on the way to win his seventh title.
It's my first semifinal, so levels are a little bit different. To beat Federer you need to be Nadal and run around like a rabbit and hit winners from all over the place.
But, yes, why not? It's another chance for me. But I think it's just a little bit too difficult it would be for me to beat him.

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