Winston Churchill once said that the Soviet Union was “a puzzle inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma.” With just a slight leap of imagination, the same might be said of the nearly retired and ever curious Marat Safin and, for that matter, Russian tennis as a whole. After all, Safin is one of the cleanest ballstrikers of our era and a massive talent who won two majors (the ‘00 U.S. and ‘05 Aussie Opens), earned a hefty $14 million in prize money and was a charismatic crowd pleaser for just over a decade. What an achiever, right?
Not exactly. Many contend that the big basher with the sweet backhand was actually quite the underachiever. Yes, he endured many an injury, but for all his abundant gifts, he could have won more majors and should have spent more time camping out at No. 1, rather than camping out in the Himalayas on one of his mountain climbs. Ultimately, the guy didn’t kick it in and fully tap his resources.
Similarly, Russian tennis as a whole has surged for more than a decade thanks to a guy, a gal and a politico: Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Anna Kournikova and the tennis loving former Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin. The Russians have collected two Davis Cups, four Fed Cups and four men’s majors, and there are now an astounding 11 Russian women in the top 50. (America has just a couple of sisters.) Russians have reached 26 of the last 29 Grand Slam semis. But, time and again they have faltered.
Anastasia Myskina did win the ‘04 French, but she sank in the rankings and then chose motherhood. Poor little rich champion Dinara Safina has been harshed for losing three big-stage matches this year, the Aussie and French finals and the Wimbledon semi. The Grand Slam collapses of Elena Dementieva — who just lost in the second round to Melanie Oudin — are almost as storied as the fluttering failures of her slow sidewinder serve. The Russian’s painful lapses, until recently, were as predictable as snow flurries in the Urals.
The quiet and scandalized four-time Grand Slam semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko never quite found his heart at the majors. The multi-talented and militaristic Mikhail Youzhny has been unable to display the same five-star general’s game that he showed at Davis Cup in the majors. And the fierce grinder Dmitry Tursunov? Well, he’s just a tad too wacky.
Svetlana Kuznetsova won the ‘04 U.S. Open and this year’s French Open, but lost several other key matches. Many other seemingly promising Russian women — crime victim Anna Chakvetadze, French semifinalist Nadia Petrova, Indian Wells champ Vera Zvonareva and drop-dead beauty Maria Kirilenko, have all had fine moments, but have fallen short of really elite, top of the pack careers, say like that All-American who inconveniently for our theme emerged out of Siberia. But, then again, three-time Slam champ Maria Sharapova, arguably the best player in Russian tennis history, had her game formed in the competitive crucible of America.
Theories abound on Russian tennis. Maybe their players are just happy to have strong careers and good money and don’t crave titles or dominance like many an (“I’m No. 1”) American. Maybe, like some of their famous artists, they constantly doubt their greatness, which is why they fail to put up consistent, top results. Or maybe when the third wave of Russians rush on tour, all those technical deficiencies and lack of A-level coaching and training facilities will have gone away, and they will really dominate the sport.
Maybe they will prove us wrong at the U.S. Open, where a nearly rust-free (but maybe not that strong) Sharapova has a less-than-steep road to the quarters. Safina, having survived two scary squeakers, is now seed-free until the semis, and Kuznetsova and Petrova have yet to drop a set.
In any case, here are some grades:
Russian Women/The Current Crop: A
Russian Women At the Grand Slams: B
Russian Men: B-
Russian Davis Cup Play: B+
Russian Fed Cup Play: A+
