Safin swears Hewitt is still dangerous

[noanoa (noanoa)]

TENNIS: Safin swears Hewitt is still dangerous
By PAUL MALONE
06jan03

WORLD No. 3 Marat Safin yesterday laughed off Lleyton Hewitt's two
 surprise Hopman Cup losses as insignificant pointers to next
 week's Australian Open.

Hewitt's defeats by Czech Jiri Novak and flamboyant American James
 Blake in Perth's Hopman Cup prompted speculation about his prepar
ation for the Australian Open, which starts in Melbourne on Monday
 .

But Safin, the 2002 Australian Open runner-up, said Hewitt's Open
chances were best served by not playing so well, more than a week
out from a Grand Slam which is always unpredictable because it's p
layed so close to the off-season break.

"When you play a great tournament before the Grand Slam, it's not
so good. You can't play perfectly for such a long time," said
Safin, who is top seed at the adidas International at the Sydney
International Tennis Centre. "It's better to build up slowly,
mentally."

Safin, 22, said Hewitt deserved to be favourite to finish world
No. 1 for a third-straight year because he could play on all
surfaces and was the "most stable" of the leading players.

"There's going to be (Roger) Federer, (Juan Carlos) Ferrero,
(Carlos) Moya, me ... (Andre) Agassi, I don't know, if he's
getting (too) old, 33, to compete with us.

"We'll see. It's an opportunity for me to finish No. 1. Who wins
the Australian Open, it doesn't mean he will finish the year No. 1
."

The charismatic Safin attracted attention with his trio of blonde
female supporters at the 2002 Australian Open, but insists he has
no romantic attachment to a blonde Russian woman who arrived at
Sydney airport with him on Saturday.

"Put it this way, I have nothing to do with these ladies. I'm not
going to explain, but I've nothing to do with that," he said. "I
have (a) coach, doctor, nobody else."

The ever-surprising Safin said Russian tour player Denis Golovanov
, aged 23 and thought to be in Sydney as his hitting partner, had
become his latest in a long string of personal coaches.

Golovanov, only nine months older than Safin and ranked 184 in the
 world, seems to have been appointed on the basis that he is a
trusted friend.

"He's one of my best friends. I make a deal for one year and let's
 see if we can do some great things this year," said Safin, who
said the arrangement had been in place when he thrashed Hewitt in
the final of the Paris indoors event in early November.

"I don't know if it's a good decision, but I couldn't find another
 guy I can trust."
Australian Davis Cup coach Wally Masur and the experienced British
commentator John Barrett both said Hewitt's Perth losses did not ne
cessarily point to Melbourne disappointments.

"I wouldn't place great emphasis on it even if he won them all. Lle
yton's tennis is all about the big occasion," Masur said.

"Let's not forget the Australian Open is best of five sets and Lley
ton's very good in that format."

Barrett said: "The pressures are mounting on Lleyton because he has
 done so much that he is expected to never lose.

"He has had his off-season break and got the match practice he need
ed. I should be amazed if he's not there in the latter stages of th
e second week."

The 195cm Safin's first match in Sydney against Belgian Olivier Roc
hus pits him against a crafty opponent 30cm shorter than him and hi
s conqueror in the second round at Wimbledon.

There will be intense interest in the performance of Sydney's Wimbl
edon junior champion Todd Reid against Argentina's tenacious clay-c
ourt specialist Gaston Gaudio, ranked No.21 in the world.


感覺Safinㄉ回答總是很真性情...:)

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