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Post by tini on Oct 6, 2009 22:37:44 GMT 3
Stood up at 5 am to see it but no live stream was working for me  Stats looked pretty good, hope he can keep it up but won't be an easy match...two in a row would be really nice! Still some hope left  |
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Post by tini on Oct 8, 2009 15:19:58 GMT 3
He won Two in a row  ;D Beating Fernando 6-3 6-4!!! Couldn't watch it, Rafa (who is up next) needed to much time against Blake! Hope he stays focused, serve stats are pretty good so far! |
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Post by tinuviel on Oct 8, 2009 17:10:03 GMT 3
Good result - Rafa should be a tough one - but then that means no pressure on Marat - so he can go for it and enjoy the chance to have a top class opponent instead of ducking out early to a lower ranked player. See the interview below - he sounds pretty mellow Press Conference: Marat Safin (RUS)8th Oct 2009 Scores: Marat Safin defeated Fernando Gonzalez (6-3/6-4) and advanced to the quarterfinal. Q: What was the key of winning today's match and what do you anticipate for your match versus Nadal? A: My serve, to be confident on the baseline was the key. It's mostly the serve. Well Nadal is tough to match but he's still there, fighting. He's dangerous; that's why he's number one in the world. It's complicated. I have to play really well to have a chance against him.Q: Can you just talk about the crowd throughout the tournament, especially tonight? Do you expect that same amount of support when you play Nadal? A: I'm very pleased they are there to support me. I really appreciate that they've been very supportive and very nice to me. So hopefully they'll be very supportive tomorrow. I'm sure Nadal has a lot of fans here. He deserves to have a lot of supporters. Q: Any extra motivation to play Nadal tomorrow knowing there may be fewer chances to play one of the best right now? A: I know I will play better tomorrow. Nadal is going to be the favorite. I have no pressure; I'm just going to play my game, go for it, be aggressive and then we'll see. It's going to be my biggest match in a long time so I'm pretty excited. Q: You had a very exciting performance today, and we enjoyed today's match. Are you going to stay in tennis for a longer time? A: I don't think today's match is going to be the key to my entire career. I have no pressure. If I were playing to defend something, it would be different. I would get nervous. It would be a whole different ball game but now itfs practice. Q: Any regrets in last season or in your career? A: I don't have any disappointments this year. Even though I had some close matches I was 20 in the world in May. If I had won them, I'd be around 15 in the world but otherwise I played very well. I go on the courts and practice and do my job in the gym. I'm happy with myself, happy with the last year. I'm still 52 in the world, so it's not a bad ranking to finish my career. I just love the bit about being excited. Aaaah - he's just a big kid really!!!! |
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Post by audrey on Oct 9, 2009 7:29:30 GMT 3
Awww....he so still wants to play!!!
I'm sure if he'd been winning matches, he wouldn't be retiring.
But I know he must be sick and tired of losing.
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Post by Annaya on Oct 9, 2009 13:16:34 GMT 3
I love the spirit during the interview....
I agree audrey, perhaps if he'd had more success he wouldn't be thinking of retiring just yet.
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Post by tini on Oct 9, 2009 22:31:22 GMT 3
He lost to Rafa 3-6 1-6 Happy I could finally see the match...first set looked good, some nice shots but too many errors but Rafa isn't where he is without reason but good tournament for him! The ceremony just made me  Going to miss him..tennis won't be the same anymore! |
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Post by tini on Oct 9, 2009 22:37:22 GMT 3
Press Conference: Marat Safin(RUS)
Scores: Marat Safin lost to Rafael Nadal (3-6/1-6) in the quarterfinal.
Q: Can you tell us what you plan to do afterwards?
A: Well, I’ll take a couple of months off and just relax and do basically nothing because I’ve been doing this for 24 years and I have had to wake up and have a schedule 365 days a year. I want to get out of the system. So I will enjoy two months off of tennis, and then I’ll try to start to figure out something. But definitely stay into sports.
Q: Did you have any idea that they would hold a ceremony today? And if not, which part was the most touching?
A: Well, I kind of had a clue but didn’t know it would be so official. First of all, I think the whole ceremony was great – great videos, pretty funny ones. It was nice for the organizers to do this for a player and very nice to see every person in the stands being there and supporting me and cheering for me rather than Nadal. But basically to see all of them, the fans, that have been supporting you for so many years just to say “bye bye” is a very nice feeling. If I could thank each p ersonally, that would be great, but I said everything there. It’s hard to describe the feeling I have now, and it will never be enough but thank you and it is deep from the heart.
Q: You have already left tennis, but your sister will stay and face a lot of difficulties. What are your suggestions for her?
A: Well, it’s a tough sport. It’s not a team sport; you can’t blame others on the team. It’s just you and how you can manage yourself along on tour and she is getting stronger and managed to get into first spot. It is already a big deal because no one expected her to be anywhere close, even in the top ten. She isn’t doing great, but she has ups and downs and hopefully she can recover from that and she will. Sometimes you have to deal with the difficulties and I think she has. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. So, if she is positive in this small crisis, she will be a great player.
Q: How did you feel when you saw your sister in the video at the end? Did you know she was going to be in it?
A: Well I knew she was going to say something and it was nice to hear and it was a nice touch and thanks for that. She’s a good sister, so she is doing the right thing.
Q: Right after retirement, are you going to get married and have some kids?
A: Well sooner or later I am going to have to have kids, so yes, I will work on that.
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Post by audrey on Oct 11, 2009 9:53:30 GMT 3
Yes, he's going to have my kids! Haha!
I'd love to see the video that they presented to him.
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Post by audrey on Oct 11, 2009 10:15:58 GMT 3
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Post by Annaya on Oct 11, 2009 14:16:52 GMT 3
Yes, he's going to have my kids! Haha! Ah! well, I initially had a violent reaction...but I feel like being a pacifist right now...(haha! Yeah, it happens  ) So, okay, fine...I'm not gonna argue...I guess I'll just have this man's babies then --> friendfeed-media.com/3ef153eef6cc2a85ac8e95d845818e565dd179beLOL Hey, thanks for finding the vids. It's so very nice and very touching. |
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Stats looked pretty good, hope he can keep it up but won't be an easy match...two in a row would be really nice! Still some hope left 
;D Beating Fernando 6-3 6-4!!! 
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