Clown prince Safin bids farewell to Grand Slams

What a long, strange trip it has been for Marat Safin, the crown prince of tennis who became the court jester.

Former world number one Safin saw his Grand Slam career end Wednesday with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 first-round loss to Austrian Jurgen Melzer at the US Open, the same event where the 29-year-old Russian achieved his greatest triumph.

Safin's often-volatile 12-year career peaked with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 over Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final, taking his first Grand Slam crown two months before ascending to the top of the rankings throne.

Now he's ready to walk away from tennis at year's end, saying since the start of the year that he is ready for new challenges.

"I want to change and do something else. I'm ready for that. It has been a nice trip. It's enough," Safin said.

"There has been a lot of pressure throughout the years, a lot of tough moments. I need to just cool down. I need to get out of my brain and start from a new page."

Safin played his first Slam at the 1998 French Open and won his first ATP title at Boston in 1999. He added the Australian Open, the last of 15 career crowns, to his haul in 2005 after having lost the 2002 and 2004 Aussie finals.

But whether it was smashing more than 700 rackets or the dreams of rivals, Safin was always entertaining, mercurial at times, witty, grumpy and typically a formidable big server who quit the game as he played it, on his own terms.

"I think I've managed to do pretty well," Safin said. "Many things happened in my career. The life was pretty intense, so I can't complain. There were a lot of changes, a lot of difficult situations, a lot of fun situations."

Safin began playing tennis at age six with his father Misha, who directed a Moscow racket club. His mother Rausa coached him until age 13 and also helped guide his sister Dinara, now the women's world number one.

"Sometimes it's not easy to understand my brother," Safina admits.

But oh how fans would try. People Magazine named him one of 2000's "Most Intriguing People" in a year when he won seven titles.

Others gave him an underachiever label compared to Andre Agassi, Roger Federer or Sampras - prodding the lionheart to roar in response.

"In the history of tennis, every single player is an underachiever," Safin said. "Agassi should have been winning 15 Grand Slams. Sampras should have been winning 20 Grand Slams. Federer should be winning 25 already.

"Everybody could do better. I should probably have won a couple of more, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I did."

Others, like compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, can only wonder what might have happened had Federer-like work ethic been matched with Safin's talent.

"It's an expression we say in Russian - what would happen if?" Kuznetsova said. "But 'if' didn't happen."

Injuries hampered Safin's hopes at times. Torn left wrist ligaments and a sore right shoulder ruined his 2003 season. A left knee injury in late 2005 kept him from defending his Aussie Open title.

"I was a little bit unlucky with my injuries. That's the only thing that I regret," he said. "I made a couple of great comebacks but eventually the knee injury was really tough to come back from. It took quite a long time to play without any pain."

Safin's year-long goodbye tour has been bittersweet. He reached the third round at the Australian Open, the second round at the French Open and lost his opener at Wimbledon, grass he often said would be better used as cattle feed.

"I don't like this bye-bye part. It's just a sad story," Safin said. "I prefer to leave quietly. I've been already too many years."