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Safin entertains with racket and mouth
By Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated
First, the sighs of relief. It's no secret that these are bearish times for men's tennis. Purple courts, New Balls, heavy balls and shortened sets might all add some small measure of short-term appeal to the game. But so long as the ATP Tour has been reduced to Pete and the Seven Dwarves, a few cosmetic changes are unlikely to have much effect. What the sport needs more than anything are personable players who deliver semi-consistent results. The cape may have been replaced by adidas togs -- often borrowed, at that -- but Safin is emerging as a potential savior. No less than Sampras has anointed him a potential No. 1. And while Safin isn't a machine like Sampras, impervious to pressure, at least his game is colorful, a mix of power baseline tennis, a nasty serve and superlative athleticism. He demonstrated his vast skills in Thursday's four-set breakthrough match, earning his best Grand Slam showing to date. Safin, though, is also a tantalizing prospect because, in an era that puts a premium on personality, he has it in abundance. Tall and telegenic, Safin is the anti-Pete, the liveliest of live wires, who speaks with less predictability than Richard Williams. This week, his post-match interviews invariably turned into Open Mike Night, as it were. Say, Marat, how many rackets have you broken this year? "You're going to tell Head, aren't you?" What's the deal with Alexander Volkov coaching you, Marat? "He's not my coach. I don't have anybody. I just [take Volkov along] because he has nothing to do in Russia." What did your mother say when you threw your rackets? "Well done, kid. Do it again." Safin is funnier than Yakov Smirnov, that's for damn sure. Alas, Safin's eccentricity and microscopic attention span surface on the court as well. In a crucial game in the third set of Thursday's match, he hit a routine volley behind his back. Kiefer riposted with an easy passing shot. Time and again, Safin attempted drop shots from behind the baseline, only to smack his head à la Homer Simpson when they fell into the net. Down break point in the third set, Safin ran back to retrieve a lob and attempted an abortive between-the-legs shot. If he were a coach and his pupil played such a loose point, Safin was asked, how would he have responded? "I would come down on the court," he said, "and hit him with the racket, definitely." There you have it. Still, serial lapses in concentration, low-percentage shots and smashed rackets notwithstanding, the guy is great for the game. If suffering through a few meltdowns is what it takes to furnish a charismatic top player, well, rest assured it's a deal that men's tennis is more than willing to make.
Half volleysChristmas came early for Elena Likhovtseva and Cara Black when their opponents in the doubles semifinals, Venus and Serena Williams, withdrew. Doubles semifinalists get $90,000 between them, while finalists earn $170,000. ... Jared Palmer and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario defeated Anna Kournikova and Max Mirnyi to win the mixed doubles title. ... Speaking of Mirnyi, he may have lost Thursday in mixed and dropped a crushing five-setter to Magnus Norman Sunday night, but he's having a swell tournament nonetheless. He and Lleyton Hewitt knocked off third-seeded Palmer and Alex O'Brien to advance to the men's doubles final.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Jon Wertheim will file daily reports from the Open.
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