Former World No. 1 Marat Safin has made startling remarks about Swiss legend Roger Federer and 16-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal’s dominance of the men’s tour.
Safin, the winner of the US Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005, is worried about the dearth of young talent on the ATP tour and according to him that is the real reason for the supremacy of Federer and Nadal in 2017.
Safin said: “If Federer and Nadal are still winning I think there’s something wrong. I don’t see any upcoming superstars today.”
“I’m not saying that our times were the best, but when I was growing up, players were winning ATP tournaments at 16, 17, 18,” Safin added. “Now players are only just starting to be pros at the age of 25. I don’t know why that is.”
“Players used to retire by the time they got to 30. At 32 you were a dinosaur. Now you see players who are still running at the age of 38. The upcoming young guys just aren’t at a high enough level. If you can still manage to run at the age of 38 and still be No 1 in the world, it means there must be something wrong with the other players.”
Safin also shared his views on the up and coming Russian players, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev.
“They’re talented, but to go from being a talented player to a top 10 player is like going from here to the moon,” Safin said. “It needs a lot of work and it’s not just about hitting the ball on the court. You have to do work off the court. There’s the psychology, strategy, tactics. They need to work a lot because they have a lot of ups and downs. Rublev, Khachanov – they win one tournament and then they don’t win a match for six months.”
Safin singled out rising Australian star Nick Kyrgios as a potential Grand Slam winner. “If you want to be a really good pro you need to be beating Nadal and Federer now,” he said. “Look at Murray and Djokovic. They were beating the top players when they were 19 or 20, but you just don’t see that from the younger players today.”
He concluded: “Federer and Nadal are great players, but they’re getting older. No matter how much you work in the gym, it becomes harder and harder to recover match after match. Age catches up with you.”
