AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Date: 2005-01-17

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2005

Marat Safin
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
The Moderator First question, please.

Question That looked almost a perfect start for you.
Marat Safin Yeah, it looked good. For the first round, knowing that they are always difficult, it's better to concentrate and give the maximum, you know, without any complications.

Question Especially after last year when you had the tough matches later on.
Marat Safin Basically, yeah. Try to spend much less time on the court as possible because you never know where you're gonna end up, you know, closer you get to the final. So basically it's better to be fresh.

Question Was it difficult playing a guy that you've never played before, you haven't seen much of?
Marat Safin It's difficult. It's also difficult because it's first round. It's also difficult because he is young and nobody knows anything about him, and knowing that he gonna come up there and play the best tennis he can and get the support of the crowd. He will try to just go for it, so you have to be really careful with that and expect the worst.

Question That was a pretty loud crowd at times between the small Russian group and the small Croatian group. Almost like a soccer match.
Marat Safin It's good that it was small, huh? I really happy that actually the first day of the tournament is a lot of people, and also the crowd like from Serbia and from Russia, fans are coming, they staying for the night session even though it was cold. So it's really good for tennis. I'm really happy to see that and to see that tennis is still there. I'm happy. I'm really happy.

Question Could you tell us anything that they were saying to you? Was it a distraction at all?
Marat Safin No, not at all. The people, they pay the money to enjoy. It's actually entertainment, like going to the movies or going to - I don't know - somewhere else. Basically they choose to come and watch tennis, why they shouldn't enjoy it? We're there to make the show basically.

Question What words did you have for him after the match?
Marat Safin I mean, he came and said, "Sorry." I don't know why he said sorry, because he apparently -- because it was so easy. But the guy tried everything. He tried his best tennis, but I played pretty good and just told him that he gonna be great player - and he will be. I mean, he is young. He is 17 years old, turning 18 this year. He has great potential, and I wish him all the best because he is gonna have a very long career, I hope for him, if he continues this way and he continues to working hard. Just I wish him all the best. That's what I said to him.

Question Do you just look at the individual matches, or do you look further with Carlos losing today?
Marat Safin That was a little bit interesting upsets today. I mean, at home in the hotel, watching tennis, I was surprised with the loss of Carlos Moya. The qualifier, he played great match. Karlovic lost. Kiefer just lost. So it was a couple of interesting matches, couple of upsets. So I think tomorrow, second day, we'll see some more.

Question Do you think that helps you, though?
Marat Safin No, it's little bit too early to say, just talk about this. But just the draw, draw opens up. But basically I played my first match, there's still many matches to go so I'm trying to focus match by match. When I will have the opportunity to get a little bit closer to the final, then we'll talk about it. Just the first match.

Question Do you often watch other people's matches when you're at home in the hotel?
Marat Safin No, just there is not really good TV, not really many channels to watch (laughter). So basically I have no other choice than to watch -- of course I'm doing because of love of tennis, that's for sure. But was interesting, was actually interesting match.

Question What is it about Australia that brings out the best in you?
Marat Safin I find myself comfortable here for some reason. I feel good. The court suits me. I love the stadium. Like I said, surface. Great city, it's really great city, I have to admit. You feel like -- you are not really feeling that you are so far away from home. You can do a lot of stuff. You can go to a restaurant with your friends, you can enjoy it, and you basically have a good time. Once you have a good time in a place where you're playing, it helps you to play well.

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