Maverick Safin surprised at comeback

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-4  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

MERCURIAL Russian Marat Safin was beginning to think he had "lost it completely" as he struggled just to qualify for tournaments.

It was the ultimate indignity for a former world No. 1 who had won two grand slam tournaments. "I'm tired of making comebacks every year", he said.

Then on Wednesday one of the great mavericks of modern tennis reached his first Wimbledon semifinal by beating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and all those struggles battling injury and taming his febrile temperament were worth it.

After a rollercoaster career, he said: "I'm surprised that I'm still here."

"I started to think I lost it completely because of the way I played the last year," he said.

Now all he has to do is beat five-time champion Roger Federer to reach the final. Safin was realistic. "To beat Federer you need to be (Rafael) Nadal and run around like a rabbit and hit winners from all over the place."

Federer, himself, said it was ridiculous that Safin was ranked 75 in the world, prompting Safin to quip, "Okay, he can sell me some points!"

At his postmatch news conference, Safin gave a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of a player so often remembered more for his tantrums than his talent.

"I was ranked 95 even this year and I had to play quallies (the qualifiers) in Hamburg. This is really touching the bottom, to start to play quallies in the tournament. That is really too much," he said.

But perseverance paid off for Safin, who in 2000 had been hailed for an astonishing performance in beating Pete Sampras in straight sets to land the US Open.

Then the pressure of expectation built up inexorably for Safin. Life on court felt like a pressure cooker until he finally won his next grand slam, beating local favorite Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 Australian Open final.

"Like five years later, people are talking around what's going to happen? He doesn't win a grand slam. What's happening for him. So it is a big relief," he said.

At the age of 28, he has reached the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time on the grass surface that he admits to loathing.

"It's great, it's unbelievable," he said.

Then, ever the realist when assessing his chances against Federer, he concluded "I think it's just a little bit too difficult for me to beat him."