Safin calls time on grass
Marat Safin tonight claimed he would never play at Wimbledon again after his first round exit to compatriot Dmitry Tursunov.
Safin, who reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club in 2001 but has only won two other matches, lost 4-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 to the world number 70 on court two, the famous ’Graveyard of the Seeds’.
The former US Open champion, who lost to Roger Federer in the final of the Australian Open in January, said: “I give up on Wimbledon. It’s definitely not the tournament for me.
“I hate this. I have to admit it. I try to be serious. I came here one week before and I was practising quite a lot. I spend a lot of time on the courts.
“I didn’t go out last night and I didn’t have fun. I was trying to prepare myself and give myself another chance but I think it’s the last one. I’m not gonna waste time practising knowing that I will not play well.
“I tried and I tried but it doesn’t work. It is not a tournament where I can play well because I don’t feel comfortable. I cannot move. For me it’s difficult to play my tennis.
“The bounce is very low for me. I hate the low bounce and sometimes bad bounces. For everybody it’s like this but especially for my game I cannot adjust to this. You have to be really focused in your mind but it’s not my territory.
“Every time I don’t know how it (the ball) is going to bounce. So it’s really a nightmare for me. So after a while I just get bored. I completely lost motivation and I give up.”
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