Marat Safin: A Man For The Ages

Marat Safin: A Man for the Ages.

When we speak of greatness, we speak of Roger Federer, who epitomises ‘graceful perfection’. From the groundstrokes to the bandanna, this man is pure class. He is one of those rare few whom crowds love to love. A family man, a champion, a human, and a living legend: Roger Federer.

We speak of Rafael Nadal, who is a true athlete. Dedication and determination, grit and power, hard work and perseverance, sacrifices and defying the odds; Nadal has done it all, and then some. There are players who we love to hate, just because they’re that good. Nadal, arguably, is one of them. We love to take him down, with his superstitions and wedgies, but ultimately, there is no one who cannot respect Rafa.

We mention Djokovic in the same breath, albeit grudgingly so. This is Federer and Nadal’s time, we protest. We cannot have a pretender here. There is no place for a third wheel in the men’s game. Agassi-Sampras, Connors-McEnroe, Becker-Edberg, Borg-Connors. How can there be a trifecta? And yet, grudgingly, we accede. Djoker is a funny man. Equal parts comedy and seriousness, this man has clawed his way into record books, and calmly stands up there with the best, letting us know there is a lot more to come.

There was Bjorn Borg, who swatted opponents like flies and there was Johnny McEnroe, whose rage was equalled only by his on court brilliance. There was Goran Ivansevic and his erraticism, but the knowledge that on a bad day he would break racquets, and on a good day, he was undefeatable. There was Patrick Rafter with his looks and charm, Boris Becker with his prodigious talent, and Andre Agassi with bad hair days and brutal honesty.

And then, there’s Marat Safin.

Pete Sampras can all but look on, as Safin lifts the US Open Championship

If there was one man who was all this, it was Marat Safin. Roger Federer’s unnatural reign of superiority which began with Wimbledon 2003 and lasted until 2007’s US Open saw only two blemishes (apart from the French Open) in Andy Roddick and Marat Safin. The way in which Marat demolished Federer left a lot of us reeling, not least Federer himself. Just like Sampras feared one Petr Korda, Federer knew that this was one man who, on his day, was simply undefeatable.

Although shocked, the world was not surprised. When the nineteen year old defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets at Flushing Meadows, we all thought we had witnessed the start of a whole new era of domination. Although we would see one, it would not have Safin’s name on it. And yet, as we do with so many others, no one has been able to write off Marat Safin. When they saw the way Sampras was left hanging out to dry, they couldn’t possibly have labelled Safin a fluke. That in itself speaks volumes of his greatness.

Few know that in 1998, just a year after turning pro, Safin defeated Agassi and more impressively, Gustavo Kuerten in his own backyard, Roland Garros. Although injuries did hamper his career significantly, we all know that this wasn’t the reason for lack of silverware.

Safin was moody, lazy and whimsical. His willpower, or the lack of it, is generally regarded as the reason for his ‘failure’. What failure? Marat Safin belongs to that extremely rare set of people who possessed something none of us could ever have, and yet, it was all but a small part of him. So he didn’t win the accolades, and he will never be mentioned as one of the legends of the game. He won hearts, he won people, and occasionally, when he felt like it, he won matches.

The Safinator

Crowds would never know what to expect of him. They didn’t know whether to love him or hate him, and rightfully so. At 15-40 Safin could make a shot that would make even the umpire lose his breath. He would then take his gold chain in his mouth, a flash of pride and nonchalance in his eyes, and slowly shuffle his 6’4” frame to be in position for the next point. Barely fifteen minutes later, Safin could turn into a petulant baby, devoid of confidence and looking utterly lost. He would break racquets and hurl insults and be held in ‘contempt of court’.

He was a funny man. Post-match interviews and mid-match antiques were some things we would never want to miss. How about the 2005 Australian Open Final, when Lleyton Hewitt, driven by his home faithful, was all over Safin? At one point, Marat Safin literally had no answer to the Aussie’s supremacy. He just looked up at the sky, utter helplessness writ on his face, and yelled, ‘What can I do?’ The crowd laughed, sympathising with him, thinking they already knew the outcome to that match. Safin won that final, to win his second and last Grand Slam title.

For all his rage and tantrums, Safin was a gentleman. When he once mishit a ball that hit an aged lady umpire, there was profuse apology on his face and lips. He jogged up to the lady, kissed her on the cheek, and that was that. The smile on her face was more than enough to describe the simplicity and beauty of that moment.

Younger days: Marat and Dinara

Marat Safin once famously said, on being asked if his mother was also at Melbourne along with his sister (who was taking part in the Women’s Draw) “No, she’s not. Two women are too much for me.” The same guy, however, was one of the first to confront the detractors when Dinara Safina came under a barrage of criticism for being world number 1. In his typical open and frank manner, he said, “Who cares? I mean, she’s No. 1 in the world. I have to protect my sister. The poor girl, she’s trying her best. She’s doing really well. She gets the attention, but not the kind of attention that a person deserves, especially when you’re No. 1 in the world.”

On 11/11 of 2009, Marat Safin officially retired from the game. We won’t see his name on record books or ‘List of top tennis players’, and we don’t need to. For some players are loved because of who they are, and not what they’ve done.

Thank you, Marat Safin.