Marat Safin

Born 1980 193 cm Right handed
Head to heads vs Lleyton Hewitt (14)vs Dominik Hrbaty (14)vs Roger Federer (12)vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (12)vs Tommy Robredo (10)vs Fernando Gonzalez (9)

Match log

2009

Paris MastersHard, November
R32LJuan Martin del Potro4-6 7-5 4-6
R64WThierry Ascione6-4 4-6 7-6(3)
St. PetersburgHard, October
SFLSergiy Stakhovsky4-6 6-4 4-6
QFWDenis Istomin6-0 7-6(4)
R16WIgor Andreev6-3 0-1 RET
R32WRichard Gasquet7-6(5) 6-4
MoscowHard, October
R16LEvgeny Korolev4-6 6-7(4)
R32WNikolay Davydenko4-6 6-4 6-2
Shanghai MastersHard, October
R32LTomas Berdych6-3 4-6 4-6
R64WMao Xin Gong6-4 6-4
BeijingHard, October
QFLRafael Nadal3-6 1-6
R16WFernando Gonzalez6-3 6-4
R32WJose Acasuso6-4 6-2
BangkokHard, September
R16LMarco Chiudinelli3-6 6-7(4)
R32WPhilipp Petzschner6-2 3-6 6-1
US OpenHard, August
R128LJurgen Melzer6-1 4-6 3-6 4-6
Cincinnati MastersHard, August
R32LRadek Stepanek6-4 3-6 1-6
R64WRobby Ginepri7-5 7-6(2)
Canada MastersHard, August
R64LGael Monfils2-6 6-3 2-6
Los AngelesHard, July
QFLTommy Haas6-7(3) 2-6
R16WErnests Gulbis2-6 6-3 6-4
R32WRobby Ginepri3-6 6-3 6-4
BastadClay, July
R32LNicolas Almagro3-6 6-7(6)
WimbledonGrass, June
R128LJesse Levine2-6 6-3 6-7(4) 4-6
Roland GarrosClay, May
R64LJosselin Ouanna6-7(2) 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3 8-10
R128WAlexandre Sidorenko6-4 6-4 6-4
Madrid MastersClay, May
R64LJo-Wilfried Tsonga4-6 5-7
Rome MastersClay, April
R64LTommy Robredo6-2 6-7(5) 2-6
BarcelonaClay, April
R64LJuan Monaco4-6 1-6
Monte Carlo MastersClay, April
R32LNicolas Lapentti6-7(6) 6-2 6-7(6)
R64WLleyton Hewitt6-4 7-5
Miami MastersHard, March
R32LGael Monfils7-5 5-7 6-7(3)
R64WOscar Hernandez6-4 2-6 6-1
Indian Wells MastersHard, March
R32LJohn Isner4-6 4-6
R64WNicolas Massu6-3 7-6(2)
Davis Cup WG R1: ROU vs RUSCarpet, March
RRWVictor Crivoi7-6(5) 6-4 6-4
DubaiHard, February
R32LRichard Gasquet3-6 7-5 3-6
MarseilleHard, February
R32LArnaud Clement6-4 3-6 2-6
Australian OpenHard, January
R32LRoger Federer3-6 2-6 6-7(5)
R64WGuillermo Garcia Lopez7-5 6-2 6-2
R128WIvan Navarro6-3 6-3 6-4

2008

Paris MastersHard, October
R64LJuan Monaco0-6 6-7(4)
St. PetersburgHard, October
R16LAndrey Golubev4-6 2-6
R32WSergiy Stakhovsky6-2 6-4
MoscowHard, October
FLIgor Kunitsyn6-7(6) 7-6(4) 3-6
SFWMischa ZverevW/O
QFWNikolay Davydenko7-6(5) 4-6 6-4
R16WJulien Benneteau6-4 0-6 6-2
R32WNoam Okun7-6(5) 3-6 6-4
BangkokHard, September
R32LPhilipp Petzschner4-6 6-7(4)

Marat Safin

He announced himself with a demolition: at 20, Marat Safin beat Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in the 2000 US Open final, the first Russian man to win the title, and that November he became world No. 1, nine weeks in all. The second of his 2 majors took five more years and a great semifinal: match point saved against Roger Federer before winning 9-7 in the fifth at the 2005 Australian Open, then Lleyton Hewitt beaten in four sets in the final. Two more Melbourne finals, 2002 and 2004, slipped away.

The racquets were the running joke he was in on: 48 smashed in a season, more than a thousand across the career by his own count. Nobody spoke more honestly about wasted talent, and nobody made the waste look better. Injuries wore him down and he retired at 29 after the 2009 Paris Masters with 15 career titles. By 2011 he was a deputy in Russia's State Duma, one more room he never quite looked built for.

Tales

Tennis families

The family business: Cruz Hewitt debuts where his father won, and he is far from the only one

Twenty-two years. That is how long it has been since Lleyton Hewitt won the title in Washington, and this week his son came through qualifying into the main draw of the same tournament. Cruz Hewitt is 17, ranked outside the top 600, and plays Marcos Giron in the first round. It is his first ATP main draw, and it is a smaller novelty than it sounds. The tour is thick with players whose surname arrived before they did.

Feature