TENNIS MASTERS CUP- HOUSTON
Date: 2004-11-20

TENNIS MASTERS CUP- HOUSTON

November 20, 2004

Marat Safin
HOUSTON, TEXAS
The Moderator Questions, please.

Question The tiebreak, can you talk us through the tiebreak a bit. You had six set points, must have been agonizing to lose it.
Marat Safin Yeah, it was a little bit -- it was, of course it's always disappointing. But I was probably going for too much because I knew I have Roger Federer on the other side, so I had to do something extra. He played quite good all the set points. I didn't really made any huge mistakes in the tiebreak. Was like, unfortunately, was a little bit nervous, probably, a little bit too much. I had to like wait a little bit more and wait for a good opportunity. I was a little bit rushing too much. But otherwise, I don't regret anything from the tiebreak, even though that I had six set points.

Question Seems like your forehand didn't serve you well, right, today?
Marat Safin But compare -- I mean, today is little bit different story. But compare to what I had before, beginning of the season, and throughout the season I improved a lot. There are many mistakes with it, but at least I am going for it. I win a lot of points from the forehand and I can put pressure on the other guy. Before, I couldn't do even that. I was a little bit scared. Of course when it's coming to the point when you're playing against that guy who is same level of you, or maybe little bit better, of course it gets sometimes little bit shaky because it's not natural shot for me. But, I mean, otherwise, it was great.

Question What's the longest tiebreaker you played until today, do you know?
Marat Safin 13-11.

Question Do you remember who it was?
Marat Safin Against... I don't remember. In Tashkent somewhere.

Question What did you think about the overrule on matchpoint? Did you think the ball was good?
Marat Safin It was too close. For me, was a little bit too far to see, to be honest. I mean, if he says it was out, it was little bit too far for me. Complete opposite side. Could be anything.

Question You said you were a little bit nervous out there. What other emotions are going through in your mind in something that stressful? Are you enjoying it, dreading the next point?
Marat Safin I was enjoying because -- I was enjoying, personally. I also knew I had a lot of pressure because I knew if I win this tiebreak, I have a huge chance to win the third set. I felt it this way. I started to play much better, and I had a lot of opportunities. Like, I felt like I could break him, his serve, you know. Was starting to be very comfortable there even though that he has a huge forehand. So that's why I tried, I put too much pressure on myself by winning that tiebreak.

Question You were 4-1 up in that second set. Did you think that you'd really blown it when you lost that break?
Marat Safin But I had another -- I had two breakpoints in the game before against -- like on his serve. I couldn't take it, so I was a little bit disappointed. Then maybe couple of unforced errors, and that's was gone. But still, in 6-5 I had Love-30. I had opportunities always. But not enough, you know...

Question It always seemed like he was always just getting the ball back, even when you were just hitting full-out on your forehand. He was always scrambling, getting the ball back to mid-court. Must have been really frustrating that you couldn't quite put the ball past him, particularly in that tiebreak?
Marat Safin No, because you have to really prepare the ball really well. You cannot just go to the net and waiting for him to, like -- like for his mistake, because he has great passing shots from both sides. You have to be really, really -- come up with something good. And just to go there, because you have to go to the net, because the ball is in the middle of the court, it doesn't really make any difference because you will lose the point anyway. So it's better to wait and prepare it so well, so then you can just kill it.

Question You changed your racquet just before you made a double-fault during the tiebreaker. What was that? What was the problem for you to change the racquet and make the double?
Marat Safin No problem, just I made the double. I could have done it with the other racquet, also.

Question So you've been tired?
Marat Safin From what? Tired from what? I was nervous. I was under pressure. It's normal thing. Everybody has this moments, you're not focused, you're not ready. Maybe you're nervous a little bit, lot of pressure. It's normal.

Question How much did you and Peter talk about tactics before the match? Do you think he helps you with some ideas?
Marat Safin Just basically he said the same thing that I was thinking how to play against Roger. So nothing new. Just I knew it also before, but nothing, nothing special that -- he didn't come up with something amazing, incredible that I never knew it.

Question So you're paying him a lot of money for nothing?
Marat Safin I'm paying all this money just for this. It's enough. It's enough money, and it's enough -- he does enough things for me to be here. It's already big effort.

Question Do you take a lot of encouragement out of looking back at the beginning of the year when you lost to Roger pretty easily, then playing a tough match today?
Marat Safin Yeah, but listen, I said it already so many times, I started the year 89. So compared to where I was and where I am right now, it's like it's 85 spots I improve. So to say what I had during the midseason, what I had before when I lost to him so easy in the Australian Open, it doesn't really matter because it was the main goal to get back to the Top 10. I made even Top 5. So I'm not really angry at myself. I don't regret anything, even that I lost in finals of Australian Open. Doesn't really matter. What matters is the end of the season, the result.

Question Do you think computerized replays should be used to determine close calls, and do you think it's accurate?
Marat Safin I think they had this kind of discussion. They can change it three times, you can put it on the screen. Otherwise, you're going to check all the time. It's not the same rhythm of the match.

Question Do you think it's accurate to use?
Marat Safin Yeah.

Question How do you look back at this Masters Cup? You improved playing at a high level?
Marat Safin This is what it's all about. You have to play in the high level to be here. You have to play the high level during the year to be here. So, basically, yeah (smiling)...

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