Over the next few days leading up to the US Open, players will be profiled as part of COUNTERPUNCHING.COM’s Progress to the US Open series. Top players are chosen based upon ranking, recent performance and story heading into the final Grand Slam event of the calendar year. First off is the soon to be retired Marat Safin…
Marat Safin has held the title before, but how close can he get in his final shot?
As he reaches the final days of his pro tennis career, Marat Safin must be starting to feel a lot of relief. Well, he definitely is as he has said it numerous times in his interviews. The former world #1 has had a long, successful career and has many days ahead of him where he won’t have to worry about the pressures of the frequent travel, the tournaments and all of the other obligations that come with being a pro tennis star. Will the final days of his career be a reiteration of the missteps he’s taken this year or will he be cast as the lead role for his final act?
Going out with a bang –
It can be debated whether or not Marat Safin is going to try terribly hard throughout this tournament. He has had weak results throughout the course of the year, is currently ranked 58th and has given a “things happen” kind of attitude about the losses. Physically, his conditioning is there but he doesn’t push himself to get that extra point. Emotionally, it seems like he checked out as soon is he announced this eventual retirement. Does that mean, though, that the former US Open Champion will continue with the same sort of reaction at a place where he has won it all before? At place where he will be playing his last major tournament? Probably not.
Marat Safin will be trying his hardest to go out with shades of the US Open success he had at the earlier part of this decade – not the first and second exits that have plagued him at the event in the following years. Despite his dismal 10-15 record this year, Safin is going to be one of three previous US Open champions in the draw this year which may give him a little bit of a mental edge going into the tournament – a mental edge that was thought to be gone.
Going through the tournament, expect Safin to be showing the same intensity that he would have back in his prime years but don’t expect to see him get past any of the top players in the world. Depending on how the US Open draw turns out, he might be able to fight his way through to the quarterfinals, but it’d take a miracle for him to go beyond that. I wouldn’t put money on a first round exit, either, though.
Either way, Marat is going to end his pro tennis career at the end of this year and he’ll be happy whether he comes out with a strong showing at the US Open or a dismal display to cap his career.
UPDATE 08/28: With the draw having been released now, I can say that there is very little chance that Marat Safin will make it beyond the second round. In the first round he has Jurgen Melzer and, if he can even get past that, he’s likely to face the man of the hour – Juan Martin Del Potro. It has been great having you in the sport Marat!
I could only wish that he could go out like a hero. Too bad he doesn’t have the mental stability to go the distance. He’s got the arsenal and the knowledge to beat these guys, but does he have the heart? My honest opinion is, no, I don’t think he does.