Safin Straight Sets Serbian

Somewhere I remember reading that Marat Safin had a little bit more awesome left in him…where was that…oh wait, that was here! The guy I dubbed the ultimate has-been showed he’s not done yet when Safin dumped third-seeded Novak Djokovic out of Wimbledon in the second round in straight sets (6-4, 7-6, 6-2).

It took Safin only two hours to sign Djoko’s exit ticket from the tournament the Serbian has been boasting he might win. Now Novak’s earlier comments about beating Roger Federer look pretty lame-o, don’t they?

Tsk, tsk – o ye cocky little young’un – take a lesson from this and instead of wasting your time and breath on talking about your chances, focus it on your tennis to make sure you get those chances (i.e. not double faulting your chances away in the second round of a Grand Slam tourney).

But now, maybe I’m being too harsh on the little bugger. After all, it was Marat Safin. Yep, never thought I was going to say that again! The Russian has been free-falling to the depths of the tennis underworld and couldn’t find the rip cord. Until today.

Who knows? Maybe this was the last burst of light out of an almost vanished firework. Maybe Marat’s next match will be his demise (he plays Andreas Seppi who needed five sets to beat Florent Serra for his berth in the third round). Any of you who remember back a handful of years remember that Safin was the man – sometimes.

But for today, it doesn’t matter. Why? Because today, Safin avoided getting saddled with Slacker of the Day. That esteemed dishonor goes to Nole.