Marat Safin Quotes

Roger [Federer], he brought tennis ... one level higher. Normally he toys with everybody. With all respect to other players, he does whatever he wants on the court against them. It's incredible what kind of game he can play.

I'm not fighting with myself. Oh, my God. That's how I am. You know, the story of the hippo? The hippo comes to the monkey and said, listen, I'm not a hippo. So, he paint himself like a zebra. He said but he's still a hippo. He said but look at you, you're painted like a zebra but you are a hippo. So then he goes, you know, like I want be a little parrot. So, he put the colours on him and he comes to the monkey and said but, sorry, you are a hippo. So, in the end, you know, he comes and said I'm happy to be a hippo. This is who I am. So, I have to be who I am and he's happy being a hippo.

Many say that (Pete) Sampras is the greatest player. But I say with all due respect to the rest, that he (Roger Federer) is the most complete player in the world so far.

The Olympics is not for tennis and tennis does not need the Olympics. It is not my goal in life to win a gold medal.

I wish I could have won a lot more tournaments, but I got injured every time I played well.

I was very competitive. I hated losing. No matter what, I had to win.

If you're losing, just be a man; be a man and lose as a man.

It was really impossible to break through in Russia. We couldn't buy any balls. We really didn't have any courts, no rackets, nothing. And no people to practice with.

I could pose in fashion commercials as a high society star but politics is a new way of life.

It's a completely different situation right now because last year it was the time that nobody expected anything from me anything
I had nothing to lose, basically I was starting from zero. And now I'm back in Top 5. And for me it's a different stage.

Everything is possible in this life ...

It's a pity that the tennis is really going down the drain. Every year it's getting worse and worse and worse. There has to be a radical change, and I hope it will be really soon.

There is no such thing as a perfect player; it doesn't exist.

New York is a fantastic city.

I can improve it a little bit. But it's my head, it's the way I am. So at the end of the day, I will be who I am and I will win how much I can win.

All in all, I think Kazan is Russia's sportiest city after Moscow, leaving all the others far behind.

It's too many questions about what I'm going to do, why I'm retiring, and this and that. So I answer the same question, I don't know, a thousand times.

There wasn't a rich father or rich family that paid for everything that I have right now, so I worked my way.

I give up on spending time on these courts; I give up on practicing before the tournament I hate. I hate this.

I'm not a materialistic person.

If you get operated, something can go wrong and you can just say bye-bye to tennis. That's what happened to a lot of soccer players in Europe. They get operated, some things, it's not the mistake of the doctor. It's just some surgeries, they just don't go the right way ... My injury will never go away. It's already become so chronic there's no chance to fix it so I can play without pain.

I'm not fighting with myself.

I've lived my life the way I wanted to, whether scaling the mountains, partying long into the night or having fun playing soccer.

That was ... that was choking. You're right. But of course when you play against (Roger) Federer, he's No. 1 in the world, he won three grand slams last year, and he's just full of confidence. It's difficult to do anything regular to beat him. You have to do something extra to be able to have the chance to beat him. Set points, I had six of them and I couldn't take one. But I was close.

I love tennis, but I just don't like grass.

I'm different than another person who wants to lay back and do nothing for rest of the life and talk nonsense on ESPN ... I will not do that. I want to achieve something else.

Lady, can you speak up a little bit? Indianapolis is a little far from Europe - I can't hear you.

I achieved what I want to achieve and I want to continue doing something else.

We live because of the dreams.

It's frustrating when you want to play but can't. I didn't touch a racket for three weeks and when I started playing again last week, I still felt some pain in my wrist.

You can find flaws in Agassi and Sampras, but Federer has none.

If I was the type of person who had tennis, tennis, tennis all the time and I went to bed and ended up dreaming about tennis, I would go nuts.

I've had good times and bad times. That's me. That's how I am.

Everybody is smarter from outside of the court.

You know why I want to win? Because of 15,000 reasons inside of the tennis court.

I was making comebacks every single year. That makes it difficult mentally. It causes a lot of stress.

My friend, there is nothing so sexy as a woman who is angry. Perhaps when she is even throwing things.

Right now my main aim is not to get injured any more. I am a little bit afraid of running and sliding because the ankle was so painful. But I am not a person who runs a lot, who spends a lot of energy on the court. If I am mentally OK, if nothing is bothering me and I want to play, then it is fine.

I pay the bills, I pay for everything.

It is very hard for me to switch from clay to grass.

I think it's difficult to be No. 1. 'There's too much attention, too much expectation from other people.

I try to do my best to have fun off the court.

I enjoy my life.

You cannot take all the chances you get.

I didn't change the world.

I could go and make commercials left and right and pretend like I am a celebrity, but that is not me.

You have to wake up and you have to run if you want to survive.

Me, I don't need money.

From now until the end of the year I would like to eke out one victory, that's my short term aim. I am sure I can be competitive in 2004. Tennis is like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it.

Wimbledon is not the tournament I love. I don't like how they treat the players. There are small things that don't cost them anything and they make such a big deal out of it. If they treat us this way, well, we have to treat them the same. We want to be respected, the way we respect Wimbledon, even if it is not the best Grand Slam on earth.

I could be the best looking guy in the Duma, but that's only because all the other guys are over 60.

Probably I'll not be so successful if I will keep everything in myself inside of me.