Marat satin biography

The men’s professional tennis community often marveled at the brilliant, natural talent Marat Safin brought to the court. At 6-foot-4, the powerfully built Russian could do it all — blast big serves, pound two-handed backhand winners from anywhere on the court, control the net, and dominate a match with an imposing all-court game.

When, at age 20, Safin thumped Pete Sampras in straight sets to win the 2000 US Open, Sampras said Safin “was the tennis of the future.”

Boris Becker, a player whose game was built on power, said “that he had not seen anybody hit the ball as hard [as Marat] from both wings for a long, long time.” Even higher praise flowed from four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier, who said, "The truth is Marat’s a terrific athlete who can match up with Roger Federer when they're both having their best day on court.” 

A Powerful Profile

When the No.

6 seeded Safin convincingly defeated No. 4 seed Sampras, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to win the 2000 US Open, he became