THE SCOOP: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

Safin stymied by illness, poor play
Haas has mind on parents; Ulihrach’s Porsche finds high ground

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE RCA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN INDIANAPOLIS – Times have been tough for Marat Safin lately, and they just got worse, as the Russian heads towards the U.S. Open in a couple of weeks time.

Since reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros, the best Safin has done is reach the quarterfinals of Toronto, where he fell to eventual champion Guillermo Canas 7-5, 6-3. At Wimbledon, considered a favorite on the grass surface, Safin floundered against the 11-inch-shorter Olivier Rochus of Belgium, who stands just 5', 5" tall, in the second round. And at Cincinnati last week, Safin couldn’t survive a first round beating by Greg Rusedski.

Clearly, what Safin is in need of is a good dose of confidence and some serious match play. But that will not be the case here at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis since the No 2 seed has withdrawn from the competition, stymied by an upper respiratory viral infection.

“I’ve been in bed and I have not been able to do anything the last couple of days,” said the 22-year-old Safin, a runner-up here in 2000 and a semifinalist in 2001. “I have some medicine and hope to get better in the next few days.”

Just a couple of years ago, Safin utilized his big-time game to become the surprise '00 U.S. Open champion. That fortnight highlighted the immense talent that Safin possesses; his serve is quite frankly humongous and his groundstrokes pack a ton of ammunition.

But what quickly came to the surface is that Safin has as great an ability to win major titles as he did to squander opportunities because he couldn’t mentally keep it together. This year has turned into a stunning example of how Safin is capable of losing his focus.

The odds-on favorite in the Australian Open final, he watched helplessly as Swede Thomas Johansson walked away with a four-set victory because he couldn’t work out a winning game plan.

In 14 tournaments played this year, not including two Davis Cup outings, Safin’s best showing was the final in Melbourne and the final at the TMS-Hamburg, where he lost to Roger Federer.

“I’m just playing bad,” Safin said after his first round disaster at Cincy. “I have no confidence, I don't feel it. I have no confidence and it's really sad that the train is going away and I cannot jump on it. It's really sad. “But right now in this moment, I have nothing to beat all these guys, I have nothing. I am just going on the court … I am just playing my match. I am making a great match, a few good points, people they can clap me and that's it. That's all I am doing. It is ridiculous. I am not satisfied with my game. I am not satisfied the way I am playing and it's not my game, and I am not enjoying it anymore, playing this way.”

Haas has mind on parents

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Tommy Haas is trying to concentrate on tennis, but admits that his thoughts are often with his parents, who are recuperating from a near-fatal motorcycle crash while at Haas’ home in Bradenton, Florida. The elder Haases, who were not wearing helmets when they crashed with a truck, were in the hospital for many weeks. Haas, who skipped playing Wimbledon, had his parents transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Germany as soon as it was considered safe for them to be moved.

“They left the hospital for the first time two days ago so that’s a nice thing,” said the third-seeded Haas, after his 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 first round victory over Magnus Norman of Sweden. “I can talk to my dad now on the phone, which is nice. I wish I could see them but it’s not possible at the moment. There’s times that I think about them in my matches, but I try not to.”

Ulihrach’s Porsche finds high ground
With the majestic city of Prague experiencing the most serious flooding in 200 years, Bohdan Ulihrach reports that his father got into high gear as the flood waters were rising quickly. Aware that the flooding was getting worse, his father went to Prague and removed Ulihrach’s Porsche from his garage to bring it to high ground, driving it back to his own home around 60 kilometers away.