Safin, by his friends
Marat Safin, elusive and mysterious, is not only the smashing
racket man we see on courts. When we listen to his friends,
his inconsistency and his impulsivity are also a way of life.
A way to put his international tennis star status in perspective.
His manager, Gerard Tsobodian, his ex-coach Marc Rosset and one
of his friend Arnaud Casagrande, expresses their feelings about
Marat Safin's personality, in which they see appearing a slavic
soul.
Gerard Tsobanian, Marat's manager
I was in an advantageous position for dealing with his character
because I spent 10 years working with Goran Ivanisevic. So Marat
was sort of deja vu and I was able to manage him quite well.
Especially the fact that both of them are totally different on
the court and in private. They are a lot less crazy and
unpredictable.
The key was to understand their dituation and to put myself in
their place. They were kids who came from countries where they
grew up in difficult circumstances. That partly explans their
impulsiveness, their needs and desires. I think that is one of
the characteristics of the Slavic soul. They are hot-blooded,
and sometimes they crash into a wall no matter how many warnings
you give them.
Marat had total confidence in me but he also liked to be informed,
as he should have been. I had to make him aware that the money
was his, that he worked hard for it, and had to take the time to
understand all that. Because after his career he will have to
manage both his life and his money.
Recently he asked me and Ion Tiriac for advice about what
investments he could make, now that the stack market is not
what it was.
Tiriac is a model for a lot of these players. He has a good
reputation because he succeeding both in sports, by bringing
Becker to the top, and in business in Romania. So every time
Marat or other players ask me about him, it's, "what is he
doing and how much money does he have?"
Marat sometimes gives the impression that he doesn't care too
much about his career, but I think that's just his way of handling
pressure. So you have to avoid topics like, "What tournaments do
you want to play next year?" and "How do you plan to get to number
one?" Of course he is ambitious and wants to play tennis. But he
refuses anything that resembles a career plan. He doesn't even
want to plan his day.
Marc Rosset : "I was like him at his age"
It's easier to be his friend than his coach. But still, to coach
him you absolutely have to be his friend. Which is true for a lot
of players. To be able to last all year with someone there has to
be ties of friendship.
Marat is clam, reserved and discreet. He is maybe not open with
everyone, which is maybe what gives him his wild side. But his
tantrums and throwing racquets, that's normal. When the frustrations
gather over a match or a tournament, and you're a bit impulsive,
there will inevitably be excesses.
As a pupil, you absolutely have to get him to buy into what you
ask of him. He has a strong personality that he wants to rely on.
When you get a little famous, everyone wants to give you advice
and tell you what you should do. But at his age now, he feels the
need to be self-reliant, to build his own experience. I was the
same at that age.
He hates to talk about tennis. He's not a fan, and neither am I.
He has a lot of interests and likes to read, so as soon as we leave
the court we talk about something else. Compared to someone I know,
like Federer for example, Roger is much more of a tennis lover off
the court than Safin.
Arnaud Casagrande, "a friend" (and Escude's coach)
Marat and I have our own lives away from the tour, but when we are
at a tournament we spend a lot of time together. He's an interesting
guy because there are two sides to him. When he likes someone he is
very generous and will give you the shirt off his back. On the other
hand, he's 21, likes to party, so he's not always very serious. That's
natural, you have to enjoy life.
He's not the only guy on the tour who likes to party. We're not all in
bed at 9:30 to watch the evening news! Marat can even stay out late
the night before a match as long as he can sleep in. He can shift his
day like that, and I love that. He almost never loses a match because
he was out the night before. The risk is that he gets mentally tired
and loses it: when he gets mad, he doesn't do it half way.
I know 4 of 5 Russians and they're all more or less like him. When you
enter their circle, they are with you all the way. It doesn't matter
that I coach Nico, the competition no longer exists. You're a friend,
and that's it. Very honest.
He has a lot of ups and downs, and the downs can last a long time because
he asks a lot of questions of himself. But I think he needs that. He
wouldn't feel right if his path was more linear. We all have goals, and
his is to enjoy life because we have just one.
Davis Cup is important to him and especially to Kafelnikov, but I haven't
talked to him about it. I've never brought it up, and neither has he.
--
'All for one and one for all' has been the French team's motto.
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