D Thursday, November 12, 2009 METROSPORT 25 Pain in the grass After his early Wimbledon exit to Dmitry Tursunov in 2004 (pictured), Safin shrugged: I dont like to play on this surface. After a while, I get bored. I completely lost motivation and I gave up. I give up on Wimbledon. It is definitely not the tournament for me. I hate this, I have to admit it. I dont think I will be coming back. I love tennis but I just dont like grass. Having said that, Safin slouched into Wimbledon 2008 with his ranking plummeting and sailed all the way to the semi-finals. Hes a hippo After a match in Canada in 2004 Safin was asked about his inner demons, and responded with this lengthy tangent: Im not fighting with myself. Oh, my God. Thats how I am. You know, the story of the hippo? The hippo comes to the monkey and said, Listen, Im not a hippo. So, he paints himself like a zebra. But hes still a hippo. The monkey said, But look at you, youre painted like a zebra but you are a hippo. So then he goes, You know, like, I want be a little parrot. So, he put the colours on him and he comes to the monkey, who said, But, sorry, you are a hippo. So, in the end, you know, he comes and said: Im happy to be a hippo. This is who I am. So, I have to be who I am and hes happy being a hippo. Why we love Marat... W hile capable of sublime tennis, Marat Safin will best be remembered for his often hilarious outbursts. Here are some of our favourites: The whole of the moon Safin celebrated winning a nifty point in a French Open marathon against Felix Mantilla by dropping his shorts, and then railed against tournament officials who penalised him a point. All of the people who run the sport, they have no clue, said Safin. It is a pity that tennis is really going down the drain. Love match: Del Potro embraces retiring hero Safin, right, in Paris Picture: AP SPORT Digest Contract talks: Button Button told to lower demands FORMULA ONE: Ross Brawn has indicated Jenson Buttons salary demands will not be met and is instead prepared to offer the new world champion more freedom to seek out personal sponsorship deals to boost his income. Button has been in contract talks with Brawn GP since winning the world title in Brazil last month. The 29-year-old took a 5million pay cut to help the team stay afloat following Hondas withdrawal last winter but Brawn is reluctant to return the Briton to his former salary of around 8million. Brawn said: Jenson has some freedom for his own endorsements but has a commitment to meet our obligations. Irish claim Test case is strong CrICket: Ireland are confident they can mount a strong case for inclusion among the games elite test-playing nations. the Irish authorities last week notified the International Cricket Council of their intention to apply for full membership status. Irelands case is backed by the excellent performances in recent seasons of their senior side, who reached the last eight of both the 2007 World Cup and this years World twenty20. Looking at most areas of the game, I would say we stack up well by comparison to the other countries that have been elevated to full-member status in the last 20, 30 or 40 years, said Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom. Our playing record speaks for itself. We felt the time was right to put this forward. Senna: Ill make name for myself FORMULA ONE: Bruno Senna hopes to quickly shake off the tag of being the nephew of one of the greatest grand prix drivers of all time when he makes his F1 debut next season. Senna, whose uncle Ayrton won 41 races and three world titles in a glittering career, has signed for the new Spain-based Campos Meta team for 2010 and is determined to quickly become his own man. I hope, in a short time, that everybody remembers me for being Bruno, myself, and not for my uncles surname, Senna said. Ive learned to live with it and although it helped me at the beginning to find sponsors and find contacts, to be a driver you need to have a natural talent. Rory: Im ready to battle the big guns on US tourBy Peter regAn McIlroy: enormous test GOLF HOng kOng OPen RORY McILROY faces the most testing year of his young career, according to Ian Poulter, after deciding to take out a full US PGA Tour card next season. After much speculation, the Irish world No.17 confirmed the move ahead of this weeks UBS Hong Kong Open and will join Poulter, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey in splitting their schedules either side of the Atlantic. Ryder Cup contender McIlroy, 20, said the move was designed to help improve his world ranking and ensure he puts himself up against the worlds best on a regular basis in order to be better pre- pared for the majors and World Golf Championship events. If he wants to take his card up it is go- ing to be hard work, said Poulter, who joined the Tour in 2005. I have done it for the last few years, it is very tiring, but you can keep your sta- tus in Europe and on the PGA Tour and finish high up on both lists. He is going to play in tournaments which have better fields than the ones he is in now, he said, adding: He is going to travel more than he ever has done. Despite only winning his maiden title at Februarys Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy is in the hunt for the Race to Dubai with just two events remaining. He insists he will keep up his commit- ment to the European Tour in the future although he is certain to cut back to stay fresh for a long transatlantic season. McIlroy played 11 events on the US PGA Tour last season including all four majors and all three World Golf Cham- pionship events and only needs to play four more to fulfil his new obligation. You can see from my efforts in the majors and the World Golf Champion- ships this year that I like to play in those fields because I just seem to be up for them, and they offer a bigger challenge, said McIlroy. I am just in a privileged position where I play wherever I want, and be- sides I earned enough money in US Tour events to get my card so I have taken out membership, he added. I have to be who I am... happy being a hippo tennis paris masters Marat Safin yesterday bowed out of professional tennis with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 defeat by US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro at the Paris Masters. the fiery russian announced earlier this year he would be bringing to an end a 12-year career that has brought him two grand-slam titles and taken him to no.1 in the world. the match itself saw flashes of Safin at his brilliant best and the 29-year-old fought impressively to take the second set but there were also too many mistakes as fifth seed Del Potro booked his place in round three. Safin was presented with a souvenir trophy and then addressed the crowd, saying: its a very special moment. im happy to get through to the second round and play del Potro, i hope hes going to do well here. Hes confident now because of me so if hes going to win it he can send me some prize money! this is the day where all my memories will be in one box. im closing one door, hopefully another door will be opened. the crowd were fully behind the wild- card, who is a three-times champion in Paris, throughout and, after a hug from Del Potro across the net, a host of Safins current and former rivals came out on court to pay tribute. the russian appeared to have the tennis world at his feet after beating Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final. But his unpredictable temperament and fondness for smashing racquets took centre-stage although he did later go on to win the australian Open in 2005. Paris finale for Safin index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html