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WILL
SAFIN FACE KAFELNIKOV?
Is
an all-Russian final imminent?
By
Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FLUSHING
MEADOWS, N.Y., SEPT. 8 – Now
that the men’s competition has come down to the final four,
the burning question seems to be is there an All-Russian final
in the U.S. Open’s future.
Headed
on a possible collision course are defending champion Marat Safin
and two-time Grand Slam victor Yevgeny Kafelnikov – the old
guard-new guard of Russian tennis.
Certainly,
there is a distance to travel before this match up could turn
into reality – Safin has to outwit Pete Sampras in one semifinal,
while Kafelnikov has to send Australian upstart Lleyton Hewitt
packing in the other semifinal. While it is undeniable that this
conclusion would capture imagination on the streets in Moscow,
it’s unlikely will they be drinking Stolichnaya in the streets
of New York?
“I
mean, I cannot describe it to you,” said Kafelnikov, when
asked about the possibility of meeting Safin for the U.S. Open
title. “It’s never happened before. It’s still
a long way to go, you know. We both got to win one match each.
Probably it’s going to be the most toughest one to be able
to get through for both of us.”
If ever there were truer words.
For
Safin, the journey to the final means he has to bypass Sampras,
the very player he pummeled in last year’s final at Flushing
Meadows. Safin shocked an entire stadium, and tennis fans around
the globe, in the manner in which he swatted Sampras out of the
way last year like he was nothing more than a pesky fly. Without
a doubt, the tennis pundits that fill the U.S. Open media center
were bemoaning the awful final they were about to watch in 2000,
a lopsided affair that would handily belong to Sampras.
Things
turned out differently than expected on that occasion and this
will be a very different match for both Safin and Sampras on Arthur
Ashe stadium this year.
First of all, this is not a final. It’s a semifinal and whichever
player wins the encounter will have one more match to go.
Secondly,
neither Safin nor Sampras have been on top of their games this
year.
Sampras has not picked up a trophy since he won his record 13th
Grand Slam title at 2000 Wimbledon, not even at any of the smaller
events where the competition could often be less weighty.
Safin,
who led the tour with seven titles in 2000, came up with an aching
back during the Dubai final in February and it’s been no
success, no confidence until the last few weeks for the Russian.
Both
seem to have found their game at this U.S. Open and it would have
to be expected that Sampras’s unbelievable win over Andre
Agassi in the quarterfinals, a match in which neither player lost
their serve in four tiebreaker sets, should give him the momentum
to believe he can win a 14th Grand Slam title here at Flushing
Meadows. It certainly would offer a nice symmetry if Sampras won
a 14th Grand Slam trophy at the site he had his first ever Grand
Slam triumph as a 19-year-old in 1990.
Kafelnikov
is always an up-and-down kind of guy, but when he puts his mind
to playing, he is as talented and capable as any player on tour.
If there’s a tennis player that could be considered a road
runner on the court, Lleyton Hewitt would be a likely candidate.
He is at times also known for running off his mouth as well.
Hewitt
has the edge in this match not only because he goes into it with
a 4-1-career advantage, but because he is on the whole far more
determined to win than Kafelnikov. Hewitt lives and breathes for
winning matches and Kafelnikov only does that when he’s feeling
into it. While it appears that the Russian is in the right frame
of mind this U.S. Open, you never can be sure when he’s ready
to duck out of a challenge.
One
thing can be sure, if CBS has their way they won’t be looking
at a Russian affair on Sunday and Pete Sampras will be center
stage on Arthur Ashe stadium in the final.
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