[薩芬] Steely Safin overpowers Ferrero
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2005-05-28/200505281117296604
598.html
(這張照片頭髮看起來好看一點:p)
Steely Safin overpowers Ferrero
By Araz Gulekjian
Saturday, May 28, 2005
In one of the fiercest battles of the tournament so far, Russian No3 seed
Marat Safin showed steely nerves on Saturday to stun former Roland Garros
king Juan Carlos Ferrero and advance into the fourth round for the sixth time
in seven appearances here.
The 25-year-old Safin fashioned a match of sheer mastery to edge his
25-year-old opponent 7-6 (5), 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (2) in three hours and 46 minutes
before an excitable Parisian crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"There wasn't such a difference between the two of us," Safin said. "It was
just a question of a few points. The match was close. It can have gone either
way. I got lucky on a few points. But I think at one point, Juan Carlos got a
bit nervous. He didn't know how to finish his sets," added the Russian, who
thumped 13 aces and fired 51 winners to Ferrero's 34.
Asked if he could capture the title, Safin responded cautiously: "It's still
too far to think about it," he said. "You need to get through the
quarter-finals first, and then it's a different story. I'm not there yet
because we still have a lot of clay court specialists in the draw. Coria is
somewhere there. But why not? Why not?"
With his win, Safin took revenge on his Spanish rival, who had beaten him
here in the semi-finals three years ago.
Safin and Ferrero are now locked up at 5-all in their head-to-head meetings
with the last encounter coming at the Hamburg Masters two weeks ago.
The two friends were involved in a stormy clash there when the Russian raged
at the Spaniard in his second round defeat.
Safin now meets No15 seed Tommy Robredo, who mercilessly dumped fellow
Spaniard David Sanchez in straight sets.
Despite his loss, Ferrero is on the right track to rediscovering his old form
after an injury-ravaged 2004 campaign during which the wiry Spaniard was
hampered by various ailments - rib, wrist injuries and chickenpox included.
In sweltering mid-afternoon heat, the two men engaged in ferocious baseline
duels. Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, shrugged off the effect of a
painful left knee that has been bothering him for over a month to take the
initiative with his blistering ground strokes.
Ferrero, a champion here in 2003 and runner-up in 2002, weathered the initial
storm and broke Safin in the third game to go up 3-1. The Spaniard tried to
finish off the Russian on his serve at 5-4 but Safin had other plans and
stormed back to steal the set in a disputed tie-breaker.
The tall Russian was unable to sustain the momentum as he made another ragged
start to concede his delivery in the second game to fall behind 4-1. But
Ferrero squandered the lead once again as Safin thrived to restore parity.
Safin took his opponent's delivery in the eleventh game and sealed the set on
his serve with a clean ace - only his fourth of the match.
Ferrero then took control and ran away with the third set in 31 minutes but
conceded the match in a fourth set tie-breaker which Safin concluded with a
wicked forehand winner.
"Today, he surprised me physically," Ferrero said. "He was really, really
good physically on the court. Doing a lot of rallies with me. He didn't look
so tired. He fought until the end, as me."
"Every time I had an opportunity, 5-4, 4-1, he really resisted from a
psychological point of view," added the Spaniard.
"Maybe I could have insisted a little bit more, and insisted on my forehand,
but he was bringing in some backhands crosscourt and I couldn't take the
initiative. I really had to wait for an opportunity, wait for an opening, and
try to attack as soon as I could. In any case, I think that he played very
well in the critical moments."
--
http://www.pixnet.net/marsafin
http://www.wretch.cc/album/marsafin
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