Marat Safin

Marat Mubinovich Safin (Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин; Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player and former politician.

Safin began his professional tennis career in 1997, and held the No. 1 ranking for a total of nine weeks between November 2000 and April 2001.

Safin started his professional career in 1997.

Safin is the recipient of four ATP Awards: 1998 Newcomer of the Year, 2000 Most Improved Player, 2001 Fans' Favourite, 2002 Fans' Favourite.

In 1998, Safin consecutively defeated Andre Agassi and defending champion Gustavo Kuerten at the French Open.

He won his first ATP title at the age of 19, in Boston, and later in 1999 he reached the Paris, Bercy final, losing a closely contested four-set match to No. 1 Andre Agassi.

He achieved the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) top singles ranking on 20 November 2000.

When Safin became the world's number one player in 2000, he became (at the time) the youngest world number one in tennis history.

He won his first major title at the 2000 US Open, defeating Pete Sampras in the final, and his second at the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

Since its inception in 2000, Safin is the only player alongside Roger Federer to have won the award multiple times.

Safin was born in Moscow to Tatar parents, Mubin ("Mikhail" ) Safin and Rauza Islanova.

His ancestors come from Mishar village Bolshoye Rybushkino, located in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

He speaks Russian, English, and Spanish.

He does not speak Tatar and does not feel like he has to apologize about it.

His parents are former tennis players and coaches.

Safin held the No. 1 ATP ranking for 9 weeks during 2000 when he won his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, becoming the first Russian in history to win this tournament in the men's singles draw, by defeating Pete Sampras in straight sets.

He barely missed finishing the year as No. 1, the top spot being overtaken by Gustavo Kuerten at the last match of the season, the final of the 2000 Tennis Masters Cup and ATP Tour World Championships (3-0 win over Andre Agassi).

He often lost in the first or second rounds in other years, although he made the quarterfinals in 2001, losing in four sets to eventual champion Goran Ivanišević.

Safin dismissed his performance in the 2001 tournament as a result of luck.

Safin disliked playing on grass.

Safin helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.

Safin reached three more Grand Slam finals, all at the Australian Open (2002, 2004, and 2005).

He has cited nervousness as the reason for his loss in the 2002 event, and physical exhaustion for the 2004 loss.

He defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 final to secure his second Grand Slam in five years.

En route to this final, he defeated top-ranked Roger Federer in a five-set semifinal match.

Safin described the match as "a brain fight."

He also defeated future ten-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who was making his first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, in the first round losing just three games.

Despite his dislike of grass courts, he became the first Russian man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in 2008.

His younger sister, Dinara, is a former world No. 1 professional tennis player and silver medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Safin's father managed the local Spartak Tennis Club, where Safin trained in his youth.

At the age of 14, Safin moved to Valencia, Spain to gain access to advanced tennis training programs which were not available in Russia.

Safin says he grew "very fast ... with no muscles" and that he moved to Spain because clay courts were "better for the knees".

In a 2008 interview with USA Today, Safin identified himself as a Muslim, stating, "I'm Russian, but I'm 100% Muslim. All the Muslim people are passionate, stubborn. We have hot blood."

However, ten years later in an interview for Alexander Golovin of Sports.Ru, he stated that though he believes in something that had created the world but doesn't really believe in personal God.

His best result at Wimbledon was reaching the semifinals in 2008, beating No. 3 Novak Djokovic en route.

At the time of his retirement in November 2009, he was ranked world No. 61.

In 2011, he became a member of the State Duma representing the United Russia party.

In 2016, he became the first Russian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Safin is also the older brother of former women's WTA world No. 1 player Dinara Safina.

They are the only brother-sister tandem in tennis history to have both achieved No. 1 singles rankings.