Ferrero slams Safin
Nyree Epplett
Friday, June 7, 2002

When he's hot, he's hot. When he's not, he's not. Playing reckless,
uninspired tennis, a surly Marat Safin was trounced by Juan Carlos
Ferrero 6-3 6-2 6-4, the Spaniard advancing to his first ever Grand
Slam final in two hours, 8 minutes, where he will meet countryman
Albert Costa.

The wily Spaniard effortlessly dissected the power game of the
volatile Russian on Court Philippe Chatrier Friday, to set up
the all-Spanish Roland Garros men's singles final.

"Of course, I made up my mind to win this tournament, and the
objective is not really achieved until you come to the final
and you win it. I won't really be totally happy until I win,"
said Ferrero after the match.

Under overcast Parisian skies, Ferrero never looked like losing,
anticipating the No2 seed's every move and frustrating the big
man with an oppressive backcourt game that contained no holes.
And as is often the case when Safin's back is up against the wall,
the Russian combusted, wasting his big first serve, making 76
unforced errors and cursing loudly at himself and his racket
throughout the encounter.

Ferrero simply had to stay in control from the baseline, move
the impatient Safin from side to side, and hold his serve to
unnerve his inconsistent foe, who played an inexplicably low
percentage game for the match's entirety.

For No11-seeded Ferrero, the emphatic victory could not have
been more satisfying. The Spaniard had reached the last two
semifinals here only to be ousted by eventual champion Gustavo
Kuerten. Before the start of the clay court season, he was
suffering from a stress fracture in his right foot and last
week he had sustained a sprained ankle, which looked like
putting him out of the tournament.

"I feel very happy, it's first final, it's unbelievable experience
for me. You know, I'm going to play with another Spanish, so I think
it's a party, a Spanish party, in the final. So, for sure, we going
to enjoy the match," said Ferrero.

"It's a big surprise for me because I start so bad the year with a
lot of injuries... but finally with the help of the doctor and all
my friends, I could play the tournament, and I'm in the final."

Safin's tactics early on in the match appeared to be working as
the Russian attacked the net on Ferrero's short balls. The No2
seed broke Ferrero in the third game of the first set, but the
persistent Ferrero broke straight back after Safin hit an
unintelligent drop shot that sat high up and which Ferrero
easily put away. The Russian's main weapon - his monstrous
serve - never recovered and he could barely get 50 per cent
of his first serves in.

The classy Spaniard, playing solid consistent tennis from both
sides, exasperated Safin when he threaded a backhand winner down
the line to earn the service break in the eighth game. He sealed
the first set when a Safin return of serve floated long.

"And I think was the key of the match, I didn't do mistakes," said
Ferrero. "Maybe he did more mistakes than the other days."

Ferrero broke Safin again in the fifth game of the second set and
then held to surge to a 4-2 lead. Then in the next game, and down
0-40, Safin wildly sprayed an easy smash meters out, to trail 2-5.
Ferrero served out the set on his third set point when the Russian
jumped into the air to put away a backhand, but carelessly clunked
it into the net instead. Ferrero broke twice in the third set to
seal the Russian's fate.

"The problem is not I think actually the serve, because you cannot
just return the ball. You have to put it somewhere so he cannot
attack," said Safin. "So basically you have to start the point
without any, you know - without giving advantage to Ferrero."

Safin admitted that he didn't feel comfortable on the court today,
and was unable to come up with a solution to combat Ferrero's attack.
He refused to concede that his mental strength, or lack thereof, had
played a part in his demise. "I try to play, but I didn't - I couldn't
find my game. He was just too good," said the Russian. "I think he was
playing with a lot of confidence and he was serving well. He moved me
around the court. I couldn't do actually much... I tried, but I couldn't.

"You have to accept these things. You cannot play all the time your
best tennis. Sometimes you're playing not great, you try, but you
cannot find it... Of course, it's tough. But this life, it's how it
is, that's sport. You have to, you know, be tough and just move over."

Ferrero said he'd rather believe he won the match for his talent
rather than Safin's psychologically suspect game. "I don't want to
think this, you know. I want to think I play so great and I won the
match for this, not for he lost his mind."

Ferrero believes that neither he nor Costa will enter the final as
the favorite. "I don't think who are the favorite because, you know,
the last time I lost against Albert Costa in Hamburg, and the other
matches I won in three set," said the Spaniard.

"So I'm thinking that I have to go to play my best tennis, to try to
give my best mentally in the court, and that's all."