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Marat Safin Going Out With a Whimper

Following a listless first round loss to Jurgen Melzer at the US Open, his final grand slam, Marat Safin continued to disappoint in Bangkok, losing to qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 7-6(4) in the second round of the PTT Thailand Open.

Safin's loss is more surprising since he looked so sharp in his first round, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over #5 seed Philipp Petzschner.  To follow up a big win like that with a straight sets loss to a nobody like Chiudinelli is utterly inexplicable, though hardly shocking given how inconsistent Safin has been.

Maybe Safin still has a rabbit or two left in his hat.  He has been given a wild card into Beijing, and is set to play Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Moscow, so there is ample opportunity for him to have an exit befitting someone of his talent. 

But whether or not Safin chooses to take advantage of the opportunity is a whole different issue.

Even though they're in totally different strata in terms of their rankings, Marat's struggles have been much less talked about than his sister Dinara's.   But both have been struggling against far less talented opponents, seeming tortured on the court and struggling more with themselves more than anyone across the net.

My question is: who has been more disappointing of late?

Poll
Which Safin/a has been more disappointing this year?
Marat Safin
20 votes
Dinara Safina
19 votes

39 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 4 comments |

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Has to be Safina

At the beginning of the year I would’ve guessed Marat would be limping ino retirement. But it’s Dinara who continues to amaze…errr baffle the tennis world.

Rick Limpert

by Rick Limpert on Oct 1, 2009 10:26 PM EDT reply actions  

Yeah

Marats been talking about retiring for a while and really hasn’t been doing that well for the past few years anyway. Dinara Iunno I thought she should of won the French Open and don’t know whats up with her serve. I like her but shes obviously has a lot more expected of her than her bro at this point.

by Camry on Oct 2, 2009 12:31 AM EDT reply actions  

Marat is just taking appearance money till the end

He really doesn’t want to play tennis right now, maybe in a couple of years might come back. He has everything doesn’t need money, maybe he should coach his sister because she is coming unglued.

Paul D. Kelley

It's not about doing your job, But can you do it with a TENNIS BALL in your throat!

by so.cal.native1952 on Oct 2, 2009 4:09 PM EDT reply actions  

Marat. I stupidly expected a lot from him this last year.

by leporid on Oct 4, 2009 2:01 AM EDT reply actions  

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