Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research

Home

Safin Outduels Rising Canadian Dancevic

Written by Neil Schlecht
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Marat Safin, the 2000 US Open winner and former world No. 1, withstood a spirited challenge from Frank Dancevic, a Canadian qualifier playing in his first US Open, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6. Safin, the volatile Russian with a game as imposing—but also as erratic—as anyone on tour, kept his on-court outbursts to a minimum in advancing to the second round. Despite his relatively calm and convincing victory, Safin is hardly touting himself as a favorite. “For me to make quarterfinal, it's a huge, huge deal lately. So kind of not expecting anything from this tournament and nothing from this year." Dancevic, 22, came out of nowhere earlier this summer to reach the final at Indianapolis after shocking Andy Roddick in the semis. Previously, the Canadian had never won back-to-back matches at the pro level. In the Master’s series event in Montreal, Dancevic’s home, he reached the final before falling in three sets to Rafael Nadal. With that run, Dancevic reached a career-high No. 67 in the rankings. The first set proceeded on serve until Safin, the No. 25 seed, earned break points late at 5-5. Dancevic, though, responded each time with service winners to get out of the hole. The Russian finally broke with a deep return that Dancevic couldn’t control, and Safin confidently closed out the set with a pair of aces. Dancevic is a graceful, even occasionally artistic player fond of a sliced one-handed backhand and carved angles, but he possesses few big weapons. His gently stroked shots sounded soft as they left his racquet, in contrast to the constant thud coming from the 6-foot-5 Safin’s stick. In the second set, Safin committed a string of silly, if not totally unexpected, errors, including two double faults, to fall behind 4-2. With Dancevic serving for the set at 5-3, Safin suddenly cobbled together an aggressive return game to break back and force a tiebreak. The big Russian began to lean into, and on, his serve even more to win big points, and he eeked out the tiebreak, 7-5. In the third set, the predictable ups and downs of a Safin match were realized. Up an early break, Safin appeared to be headed toward the locker room. But nothing is ever easy with Marat, and he relaxed and let Dancevic back into the set—and very nearly the match. Safin handed his opponent two breaks of serve and was staring down a fourth set. Keeping things interesting, Safin saved two set points, one with a blistering forehand return down the line, and he broke right back at 5-6, forcing another tiebreak. Safin closed out the match with an ace, his 19th of the match. Safin's 2007 has been exceedingly patchy, even by the Russian’s frustrating standards. He has reached just one semifinal, in Las Vegas, and was bounced in the first rounds at both the Australian and French Opens and the third round at Wimbledon. While still capable of massive, penetrating groundstrokes, Safin of late has frequently ended points with wild misfires, unbefitting a player of his outside talent. Asked whether he continues to be motivated, Safin said, “I'm enjoying fighting. I'm enjoying what I'm doing. To be on the court, to run around, to have this feeling after you win a match, is the most beautiful feeling in the world." Given his immense abilities, Safin is often labeled an underachiever, despite his two Grand Slam titles. Safin understands the criticism, but doesn’t appear overly concerned about his legacy. “Agassi could have won 20 Grand Slams. Sampras should have won a little bit more. There's always going to be a Rios. He should have won 10 Grand Slams, but it didn't happen.” So far it hasn’t happened for Safin, either. But as tennis fans long ago learned, few things are certain when it comes to mercurial Marat. - Safin won 81 percent his first-serve points and struck 19 aces. - Safin is 84-29 in Grand Slam events, compared to 2-4 for Dancevic. - Two weeks ago, Dancevic reached a career-high ranking of No. 67. - Dancevic had won 10 of his previous 12 matches until meeting Safin. http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/match_reports/2007-08-29/200708291188424183671.html !
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 August 2007 )