Marat Safin defeated the Roland Garros champion

Marat Safin defeated the Roland Garros champion
Tennis experts around the world are now looking at 18-year-old Russian Marat Safin with amazement and respect. Having started the season as the 170th racket in the world, by the start of Roland Garros he rose to 106th place, and at the French Open he made two sensations in a row. Yesterday, Safin defeated the 8th racket of the world, last year's Roland Garros champion, Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, in five sets and made it to the 1/16 finals. Unfortunately, without Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who lost to the Swede Thomas Enquist. But Anna Kournikova has already won the match with Katarina Studenikova, which was postponed due to rain, and - dry! — third round fight with Asa Karlsson.

Meetings with Kournikova's participation are generating the greatest interest at the tournament so far: the Russian woman has already managed to win the hearts of Parisian fans, and the stands of the center court were overcrowded. True, the fans didn’t have to admire Kournikova’s performance for long - the difference in class between her and her rivals, who were quite experienced but had never grabbed stars from heaven, was too noticeable.
Due to heavy rain that hit Paris, the Kournikov-Studenikov match was interrupted for three hours almost immediately after it began. However, this did not unsettle Kournikova, seeded 13th at the tournament. She won the first set without any problems, and only in the second did Studenikova manage to start a fight. The matter ended in a tiebreaker, in which the Russian tennis player succeeded. “It seems to me that Katarina adapted to my style of play, which is why the end of the meeting turned out to be so tense. But I was absolutely sure that I would win,” said Kournikova.
Czech Jana Novotna and American Monica Seles closely watched this match: the first, if Ukrainian Elena Tatarkova passes, will play with Kournikova in the next round, and the second can meet with the winner of the Kournikova-Novotna pair. And they were certainly both impressed by the Russian's tennis, which was both athletic and subtle, combining solid play on the back line with sharp advances and volleys. Her next opponent, Swede Asa Karlsson, was simply swept off the court: Anna won with a score of 6:0, 6:0.
If Kournikova again delighted the Parisian spectators, then Kafelnikov, seeded sixth in France, frankly disappointed them. Once again, he confirmed his reputation as an unpredictable tennis player who can easily beat anyone and just as easily give victory to not the strongest opponent.
This time Kafelnikov stumbled on Enquist, who is generally considered not a “ground” player. Suffice it to say that in previous years at Roland Garros - and he took part in it four times - the Swede did not win a single match. In the first set, Kafelnikov looked quite decent, finishing it in his favor. And he gave away the next two only in a tiebreaker, without converting several set points. It is quite possible that his play was affected by the break in the fourth game due to rain. But, on the other hand, by the time the rain hit the French capital, Evgeniy was already losing to the Swede 0:3. “I was convinced that I would beat Enquist. I can’t even explain what happened to me,” Kafelnikov said after the match, clearly upset by the failure.
But Russian fans did not have to be upset for long. Last year's Roland Garros winner Gustavo Kuerten and Marat Safin took to center court. It was hard to believe in the victory of the Russian tennis player, even despite his successful game against Agassi. Not only is the Brazilian simply more experienced. Everyone believed that the five-set match with the American should have taken a lot of energy from Safin and it would be difficult for the young tennis player to recover, primarily psychologically.
But it turned out the other way around - the toughest five-set matches (with Courier at the Davis Cup and with Agassi) only strengthened Marat. And when the fight with Kuerten reached its climax, the Russian showed more tenacity and courage than the 8th racket in the world. After all, Kuerten was leading in sets 2:1 (6:3, 6:7 (5:7), 6:3), and it seemed that Safin had very little chance left, but it was here that the Russian tennis player began to demoralize with aces and cannonball forehands opponent. The fourth set is 6:1, the fifth is 6:4, and Safin is in the next round!
“We are present at the birth of a new champion,” effusive French commentators shouted into the microphones after another thriller with Safin, which lasted 2 hours and 47 minutes, came to an end. Marat himself was modest and calm after the match: “I played very well today. Better than against Agassi, because I was less constrained and more confident in myself, although Agassi and Kuerten are completely different players in style. Gustavo was unlucky because that he was a little nervous." Shocked, Kuerten still found the courage to recognize Safin’s strength and wish him further success.
In the next round, Safin plays with Daniel Vacek. Most likely, the Czech is now afraid of the rising Russian star.
ALEXEY DOSPEKHOV, ANDREY SEMYANINOV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 96 dated May 30, 1998, p. 15

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