US OPEN

August 30, 2006

Marat Safin

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you talk about it's been a long time since you won at this tournament. Got to feel pretty good to come out as a winner.
MARAT SAFIN: What was the question?

Q. It's been a long time since you won here. It's got to feel nice.
MARAT SAFIN: How I feel now?

Q. Does it feel good?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, it's just the first round. It feels much better when you win, that's for sure. When you win the first match, you have plenty of matches to go, and especially that you are not seeded you have to play against the seeded player, I guess. I guess against Nalbandian. I don't know what is the score.

Q. Is there any way of saying how close you are to 100% fit just now?
MARAT SAFIN: You know how many times I answered this question already? Every time I say I am very close to it I find myself in a very difficult situation. So I guess I'm still far away and I'm looking for my best game. You know, looking in improving and trying to win my matches without playing well, which I think it's where you get the confidence, the most confidence, not playing well.

Q. What memories do you have from 2000 when you won here?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, just it was a long time ago. Was a different environment, different mentality. Everything was new, and right now I'm already eight years in the tour, so it's kind of lot of things has changed. I played already seven times here. Not much.
Just since like a very long time ago, and that was a great feeling. I was young, and that's why I guess I won. I wasn't scared. Right now a lot of people are coming up and are playing great tennis, a lot of young people, so you have to compete against them.
I found myself in a position where I'm already not the youngest player in the draw and everybody wants to beat me. My ranking is not I'm not any more top 10 so it's even tougher and nobody's scared of you anymore. It's not the same situation it used to be before.

Q. Are you aware of how much your fans live and die by your matches? If you go on to Internet, people see a breakpoint, they go, Oh, my God, Marat's going to lose it. Are you aware of the interest?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, I thank them for that, and I'm pretty happy that a lot of people like at 11 o'clock in the morning there was some people sitting there even with the terrible weather we have right now. They were sitting there clapping and applauding, they want you to win. It would be pretty great.
I really think that during all these years when I was playing good and when I was playing bad, people still come to my matches and try to support me even though I was playing terribly. They were still behind me.
I think it's a great feeling to be able to have so many fans and so many people really care about you.

Q. What are your coaching plans for the future?
MARAT SAFIN: I don't know yet. We took one months off with Mr. Lundgren because I didn't know where I was going, and I found myself in a really tough position. I didn't win a lot of matches. I had difficult losses. So we decided to I decided myself to go into the States alone and just to see what's going on and make decision. We agreed to speak after the US Open and see what's happening.

Q. How many coaches have approached you and said, I'm available; you ought to hire me?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, a couple (smiling). Believe it or not, only two.

Q. What about Markus?
MARAT SAFIN: Okay, I'm gonna answer this question because I'm sick and tired of like everybody's coming to me and asking me the same question. It's really getting on my nerves.
I was in Cincinnati and I was really like I had nothing to do. For me, being alone in Cincinnati have you ever been there (laughter)?
So just go there and see how depressing is that place is. Then if somebody offers to play with you, you know, couple of times, and really is a nice guy.
I think he is great guy, and I know him for a long time. Also from the challenger, when I was starting in the challengers I knew him already there because he was coaching some players.
He offered me if you want to play with me a couple of times without no nothing involved, no coaching issues, just if you want to hit some balls, just let me know.
So I hit with him couple of balls, and then all of a sudden everybody start to speak about that I'm splitting up with Lundgren and I'm going with Markus.
No, it's not. I'm not with Gabriel Markus. He's the coach of Massu, and that's it. He's person I know and he try to help me a little bit, that's it.

Q. Do you think people try to take advantage of that?
MARAT SAFIN: Of what?

Q. You have a checkbook, talented player, of trying to hook up with you?
MARAT SAFIN: Who cares? I'm 104 in the world and I'm 26 years old, so I been already on the tour for eight years so try to bullshit me and nobody has a chance.
So is like nobody can take advantage of me. I know what I want, I know what I need, and I'm looking for that. Just sometimes the things don't go the way you want them to go, and you trying, keep on trying. Then something will happen and I will decide what will happen.
Hopefully, it will happen soon so I can get back in top hundred and start winning matches. I'm making some decisions right now.

Q. What do you want and what do you need?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, just I keep it in my head for the moment until I have everything clear, because I have a couple of things and a couple of thoughts in my head where I need to just speak to my people, think about it and make sure that it's clear and make sure that it is the right decision before I make any of them.

Q. Is your mother helping at all?
MARAT SAFIN: No, my mother, she's just, you know, my mother.

Q. She's a coach.
MARAT SAFIN: No, she's not. She's already in a pension, and the only way she can help me is by staying by having a pension and having a great time and coming here just to watch the kids, me and my sister, and enjoy it. They can make a tour in New York. That's it. That's what she should care about only.

Q. Do you spend a lot of time with her?
MARAT SAFIN: No, a couple of days went out for dinner. Unfortunately they're staying uptown and I'm staying downtown, so it's quite difficult. She came here to help a little bit my sister, support her, and that's it.

Q. You speak of 2000 like ancient history. Do you feel mentally and physically capable of ever rekindling what it took to become that type of player to win here?
MARAT SAFIN: No, it just was a different position. I was 20 years old and I had been playing great for all the summers. I made the finals of Indianapolis. I won Toronto. I played great in Cincinnati. I was coming here already playing great tennis.
So for me it was much easier, and I had a lot of confidence. Right now I'm coming I won just in semifinals of Washington, and that's it. Then two first rounds in Masters Series events and now I'm here. So it's not the same position. I was 20. Nobody expect from me anything. The only thing they were talking that I'm, you know, the youngest guy in the tour and like a promise.
Right now I'm already 26. So you're 26 years old and everybody asking what's going on, you not winning a lot of matches, your ranking dropped, and this kind of thing. It's completely different approach.

Q. Do you feel that you could become that level of player again?
MARAT SAFIN: I want. I think I still have it for a lot of tennis. I just need to get put myself together, be a little bit lucky in some moments, and that's it. Everything will come back. I'm not retiring. I'm not planning to retire.
I still think I can win a lot of tournaments, and I still think I can win a couple of Grand Slams, even if Federer will not play. I'm still waiting for my opportunities.

Q. You spoke about the ATP commitment issues in the past on different levels. What did you think about the new ATP plan: The Round Robin and Sunday starts and all these things? Do you support it?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, we spoke about it in Dubai. The meeting was Federer, was Nadal, me, Andre, and we sat down with Etienne. I think he's a great guy. I think he's great for tennis. Unfortunately, we have a lot of old guys running also an ATP that, in my opinion, should have been gone also, because you cannot have the same people from the old school and trying to make the tennis different. Could you imagine in ten years and they're still here and taking already different position.
The new guys coming, and it's like kind of because he knows what he wants, Etienne. But at the beginning, when he came in, he didn't really knew where is it all going, and he wanted to make some changes. To be able to make some changes, you need to be updated by some of the players, which is we sit down in Dubai and we suggested him to make a little bit create something different.
Because look's what happening, because the tennis is so even right now. For example, if you go to a tournament and you have like you bring Federer, you bring Roddick, Blake, or somebody else, you never know what's gonna happen, if they gonna arrive to the final or not. Not like before if you were bringing McEnroe and Borg, for example, it's gonna be for sure the final. Right now, you never know.
So to be able to sell tickets and to be able to be successful, the tournaments to have success and have a great finals, they need to have a Round Robin. Because the good players, they always qualify to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and to the finals basically.
So already Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they will have the good players playing for the championship. And Round Robin, I think it's a great thing. You play the same amount of matches as a normal tournament and you have a chance, even if Agassi is losing for example, if I'm losing the first round in the Round Robin, I still have a chance to qualify to the quarterfinals.
So I think it's great for the good players. When they're unlucky and lose to somebody, they still have a chance, you know. Also for the tournament directors I think it's great. It's much better to sell the tickets.

Q. You're not worried about playing more matches?
MARAT SAFIN: I don't care. I can play you know, like we have to support a little bit the tournaments and make sure that they are also the spectators, they get what they want. They don't want to see same finals. That's ridiculous. Like Casablanca, nobody's watching the finals. So it pays to have good players in the draw and make sure their good tennis players are in the final.

Q. Back in 2000 I think a lot of people thought you were going to be dominant for a long time. What do you think happened over the last six years? Is it injuries? Anything you can point to?
MARAT SAFIN: The people, they were wrong (smiling).
No, but then came Federer. I think it's difficult to compete against him. His tennis is too good. I been injured a couple of times and I missed a couple of years, so it's also kind of difficult when you drop out, and then to come back is quite it's very difficult.
Then some new guys that are coming hungry, playing well, and they're not scared anymore, so that's how it happened.

Q. Your wrist injuries, your backhand wrist, what actually was that injury?
MARAT SAFIN: I broke my ligaments.

Q. The TFC?
MARAT SAFIN: I don't know how it's called. Here (indicating his wrist. ) Broke everything.

Q. On one shot?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, one shot.

Q. Cincinnati could have the next Super Bowl team. Is it really that bad a city?
MARAT SAFIN: It's not Cincinnati, it's Mason. It's not even Cincinnati. It's Mason.

Q. Close to Cincinnati?
MARAT SAFIN: No, it's not. It's only 25 miles away. I think it's not close.

Q. The bar was pretty lively at the Marriott, no?
MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, you guys enjoyed it, for sure.

Q. What do you think about the replay challenge system, and how does it change your emotional reactions to a shaky call?
MARAT SAFIN: Well, they have to improve a little bit because some of the you have the mark on the court, and then you show it on the HawkEye and it's completely different thing. Like the ball, for example, Vik, he challenged one ball. I knew it was wide, my serve. And wide by two centimeters. Then they showed on the HawkEye and it was in. It's kind of I don't understand how it works.
I guess they have to improve a little bit to make sure that the calls are right because can change still can change a lot of matches this way.

Q. You're saying it's not accurate?
MARAT SAFIN: I don't think it's hundred percent sure.

Q. Is it a mark or are you looking at a piece of yellow
MARAT SAFIN: No, because mark is a mark. Mark, you cannot it's a fact. When they show replay, it's completely different way, it's touching the line. It was wide like that, and I saw the mark.

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