Marat Safin - "Kafelnikov would have been a great coach"
The half hour that Marat Safin took for Christopher Kas at "Kasi Live" (daily from 6:00 p.m. in our Instagram account "tennisnetnews") was absolutely worth listening to.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 14, 2020, 08:14 pm
If Marat Safin can actually remember all the highlights of his career, then the win against Robin Haase in Washington is definitely not one of those. Safin had completely displaced both the match he won in three sets and the prelude to it. Haase was happy to help out with the details of Christopher Kas, but was quickly put in his place due to the strict youth protection regulations.
# IMG2 #
No matter - the less than half an hour with Marat Safin was one of the most entertaining in the history of "Kasi Live". The Russian had not spoken to himself during his active time, now Safin no longer cares about anyone. Especially not on himself. Looking back on his career, the US Open winner of 2000 and Australian Open winner of 2005 said: "I was completely fucked up in my head." No translation could do justice to the original quote.
Marat Safin would have preferred to be a football player
The good (or worrying, depending on the point of view) news: The new Russian generation of top players like Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov was just as fragile as he was. And would understand as little as he, Safin continues. Marat has this experience from his own hand: At the ATP Cup at the beginning of the year, he was the captain of the Russian team. And he saw himself in Medvedev and Khachanov.
Which is why he is out of the question as their coach. Also, because Marat Safin is not ready for it at the moment, is doing very well without tennis (and would have preferred to be a football player anyway - just by the way). From his point of view, Safin brings with him an important quality for being a coach: he was a top player himself. It would not have worked for him to have a coach who had not played at the highest level. Exceptions confirm the rule, see for example Jose Mourinho, who made it from the translator from Bobby Robson to the legendary football coach. Safin tried Mats Wilander during his career, but only for twelve weeks.
Safin would have unconditionally accepted a man as a trainer: his compatriot Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He would understand the game like no other, and of course he would have had the necessary track record. So Safin's verdict: "Kafelnikov would have been a great coach."