| Marat Safin was outside the first hundred The Association of Tennis Professionals' new secondary rankings, which take into account the top 18 results over the last 52 weeks, are painful to look at. Two-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments Marat Safin left the first hundred of the ATP classification. This happened for the first time since the Russian found himself there on June 8, 1998, reaching the fourth round of the French Open at the age of 18.
The drop in the ranking by 30 steps at once was another nuisance in the series of problems Safin faced last week. Let us recall that at the Masters tournament in Cincinnati, Marat was eliminated in the opening round, losing to the black Frenchman Gal Monfils, then announced a temporary break with Swedish mentor Peter Lundgren and, through no fault of his own, got into a car accident, leaving with bruises and scratches.
In addition to Marat, active tennis players with two or more titles won at Grand Slam competitions can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Swiss Roger Federer, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Australian Lleyton Hewitt, American Andre Agassi. But the first tops the ranking with a huge gap from Nadal, who is second, Hewitt is in 17th place, Agassi is in 37th position. However, this is not important for the American, because immediately after the end of the US Open in September he will retire.
Ahead of Safin in the classification are many unknown tennis players who are gaining points in challenger tournaments and other insignificant competitions of a slightly higher rank. You almost never see these players at the Masters; their names don’t even stick in the mind of the average fan. Denis Gremelmeier and Simon Grol from Germany, Marcos Daniel (Brazil), Alessio Di Mauro (Italy), Jan Hasek (Czech Republic) and other similar players have no merit. And it’s even sadder to realize that they managed to gain enough rating points to get into the top 100, and the titled Marat took his place in the second hundred.
A year ago in Cincinnati, Safin reached the quarterfinals and decided to take a break to treat a knee injury. The Russian returned to the ATP tour six months later and immediately beat Nikolai Davydenko at a competition in Dubai. In the spring, it seemed that Marat’s return was going well and there were prospects to reach the previous level. He reached the fourth round at the Masters, the largest in terms of prize money and number of participants, in Indian Wells, which was held in a format as close as possible to the Grand Slam tournaments.
In April, Safin took to the clay and made it to the semi-finals at a competition in Valencia. And then a protracted black streak of failures and disappointments began. For nine tournaments in a row, the Russian could not overcome the barrier of the first or second rounds. It got to the point that he lost to the 512th racket in the world to South African Wesley Whitehouse. A ray of hope flashed in Washington - the Muscovite won five out of five tiebreakers and won the right to compete in the quarterfinals on the hard court of the American capital. However, the joy of Marat's fans was premature. Two Masters in Canada and Cincinnati - two defeats in the first round.
Of course, one can complain that the current place in the ranking does not reflect Marat’s true strength. After all, he returned to the court only in February and has not yet played the notorious 52 weeks. In addition, according to ATP rules, the two Masters missed due to injury treatment at the end of last season, the 2005 US Open and the January Australian Open were included in the 18 components of the ranking with zero points for each. If it weren’t for his successful performance in Washington, Marat, it’s scary to think, would now only be 125th-130th. Most likely, at the next US Open, Safin will improve his position in the ATP classification. However, in the future he will face the problem of obtaining a place in the main draws of tournaments, where 32 participants compete for the title. According to the rating, the Russian simply will not qualify, but whether the organizers will want to give him a wild card is another question. Although, of course, our tennis player, due to his charisma and past achievements, is still a welcome guest in many places.
The Masters in Cincinnati became a renaissance for the former first rackets of the world, American Andy Roddick and Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who met each other in the final. Roddick achieved victory - 6:3, 6:4. The last time he became the best at tournaments of this level was two and a half years ago, in the spring of 2004 in Miami. Ferrero emerges from a protracted crisis. He had a great season in 2003, but hasn't won a single title since then. The Spaniard has reached the finals three times since then, but this is the first time in 33 months that he has done so at the Masters. Ilya TRISVIATSKY |
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