Marat Safin talks about why JC isn’t more popular in the US

kat — Fri, 26 Mar 2004 06:41:41 +0000

this is from an after match interview Marat Safin did – from ASAP Sports
25 March 2004

Q. You trained in Valencia with Juan Carlos, right?

MARAT SAFIN: Not exactly.

Q. Not exactly?

MARAT SAFIN: Not exactly. One is from the same place, but different cities. I would live like around 60 miles away from each other.

Q. You know him pretty well?

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, yeah. We been playing, I mean, we been traveling together in the same tournaments since we are 14.
Q. He doesn’t seem to be a particularly popular champion here in the States. He’s not in this tournament, but do you have any idea why that might be?

MARAT SAFIN: Who, Ferrero?

Q. Yes.

MARAT SAFIN: You asking me why Ferrero is not popular in Miami or in USA?

Q. USA.

MARAT SAFIN: Because, guys, I think that you have your own players and you like very much your players, the American ones. Nobody really cares about the Spanish players, especially here. Nobody cares about it. Exactly also for the players from other countries. At least there is a lot of people, they know only Agassi, Roddick and Blake. I think it’s normal. Also, he is not also popular in Russia. Nobody knows him. Nobody cares about him. The people from Europe, yes, they know him, because he’s traveling and he’s playing in Europe.

Q. There have been players from Europe who have been very popular here – Becker, Edberg. Do you think he hasn’t won enough, or is it his style of play, his demeanor on the court?

MARAT SAFIN: We are talking about little bit different things. For all the respect for Ferrero and a lot of other guys, including me, who didn’t achieve the same things as Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. So this is probably the main reason. Also, you have to see that lately, nobody should know — I cannot even watch tennis on TV. Nobody shows tennis. And the way they show, there is some matches that nobody cares about them, so who’s gonna watch? So how do you want to promote the players? How the people, they gonna understand who is who? They don’t know who is who and they don’t really care who is who because it’s not interesting, because it’s boring, and because you cannot even see them on TV.

Q. I guess I would still argue that you won one Slam; Juan Carlos has won one Slam.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah. But, sorry, where you can see me on TV in the United States? Where? You think that they really care about Safin in a match in Indian Wells first round? Nobody cares. For the same reason. Tennis is so — they don’t promote it very well. They don’t get enough hours to show on TV because it’s not entertaining anymore. That’s the main reason. That’s the main reason that the people like us, like Ferrero, Federer and Safin and Roddick — okay, Roddick, because he is American, but normally, nobody really knows the players and not really interested to watch these kind of matches.

Q. So it’s the media’s fault?

MARAT SAFIN: I don’t know who’s fault but definitely not mine. It’s somebody who has to deal with — for example, here’s a person from ATP. You can blame them for that, for not promoting the tennis the way it should be promoted and not getting enough hours on the TV. It has to be either certain hours, so at least the people can see sometimes tennis.

Q. I guess I would still argue…

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, it’s okay, you can argue. You don’t have to tell me.

Q. You’re more popular than a Ferrero. Spanish players in general have never been that popular, if you go back, in the States.

MARAT SAFIN: And? What’s your point?

Q. I don’t know.

MARAT SAFIN: But make your point. You don’t know.

Q. Just wondering why. You lived in Spain. Is it something about…

MARAT SAFIN: It’s nothing in particular about Spanish players. I mean, the Spanish players, they are quiet, famous enough in Europe. Maybe because their tennis is not really unbelievably attractive, could be one of the reasons. Could be. But also, everybody has different character. But this kind of character that the Spanish people have, maybe they’re not — the people from the States don’t like it; they want to see something else. They want to see like maybe a John McEnroe, they want to see Boris Becker, or they want to see big names, more interesting game. They want to see little bit serve and volley and some nice shots. You cannot see that from the Spanish players. Could be this is the reason. I’m not taking away the achievements they had for the last past — a lot of like, 10 years. Spanish tennis grew up a little bit – quite a lot actually – they have already 10 players in the Top 100. But somehow it’s not that attractive for the people. Not for me, I don’t really care. But for me, they are tough opponents, but we are not talking about the issue. That’s not the issue. It’s about how attractive really is it or not.

Q. Do you like to watch the Spanish play?

MARAT SAFIN: I will not even watch tennis if I’m not playing. I had enough with my own problems, and I have enough with my own tennis. I won’t go to see the match of… I don’t know…

Ferrero wins first 2001 title

kat — Mon, 05 Mar 2001 13:24:39 +0000

Taken from the Official ATP Tour website
5 March 2001

Juan Carlos Ferrero captured the second ATP title of his career when his top seeded opponent Marat Safin was forced to retire with a back injury 52 minutes into the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Ferrero, the seventh seed from Spain, was leading 6-2, 3-1 in the battle of the New Balls Please stars when Safin decided he could no longer continue. The 21-year-old Russian incurred the injury during his semifinal win over Thomas Johansson.

“It is difficult for [Marat] to play at a good level if he’s injured,” said Ferrero, who moves to 17th position in the ATP Champions Race 2001. “I think it is better for him to stop.”

Ferrero, who defeated Jonas Bjorkman, Jiri Novak, Magnus Norman and saved two match points against Dominik Hrbaty to reach his first final of the year, became the second Spaniard to win in Dubai following Alex Corretja’s title in 1998.

The 21-year-old from Onteniente finished the ATP Champions Race 2000 at No. 12, and was part of the winning Spanish Davis Cup team last December. It was his first title since winning in Mallorca in 1999, and he was a finalist in Dubai and Barcelona last year.

Safin: “Sorry for the crowd.”

For Safin, it was a disappointing end to what had been a good week for the Russian. “I’m really sorry for the crowd who paid for the ticket and watched only half a match,” said Safin. “I definitely couldn’t play 100 percent…If you cannot serve and volley, you just have to play from the baseline and hold your serve.”

Safin, who won seven titles in 2000 including the US Open and the Tennis Masters Series events in Toronto and Paris, reached his first final of the year with victories over David Prinosil, Julien Boutter, Andrei Medvedev and Johansson. He stands in 12th position in the ATP Champions Race 2001.

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Marat Safin talks about why JC isn’t more popular in the US

Ferrero wins first 2001 title