Marat Safin

Made byKiselev NikitaSchool №1208, 9 “A” class

General information Marat Safin was born in

Moscow in 1980. Safin began his professional career in 1997, and held the No. 1 world ranking for a total of 9 weeks between November 2000 and April 2001. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 US Open after defeating Pete Sampras, and won the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Despite his dislike of grass courts, he became the first Russian man to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Early life Marat’s parents are

former tennis players and coaches. His younger sister, Dinara Safina, is a professional tennis player and silver medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Safin's father managed the local Spartak Tennis Club, where Safin trained in his youth alongside several tennis players, including Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva, and Anastasiya Myskina.

Early life At age 14 he moved to Valencia, Spain, to gain

access to advanced tennis training programs which were not available in Russia. Safin says he grew up "very fast ... with no muscles" and that he moved to Spain because clay courts were "better for the knees".

Characteristics Marat has been described as one

the most talented players of the 1990s and 2000s. Raw natural ability and a charismatic personality came through in his career as well as some brilliant power tennis. He possesses a powerful and effective serve and phenomenal groundstrokes, his backhand being his major weapon. He is also capable of playing at the net, with his volleys also being effective. However, lack of consistency has been described as Safin's ultimate weakness, since 2005. Safin considers grass to be his least favourite playing surface, even though other opponents with similar playing styles generally dominate on it.

Post-retirement career Since retirement Safin has been

an official for the Russian Tennis Federation and a member of the Russian Olympic Committee In 2011 he began playing at the ATP Champions Tour.

In December 2011, Safin was elected to the Russian Parliament as a member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party. He represents the Nizhny Novgorod region. On December 17, 2012, Safin supported the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the US.

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