Sport

No motivation, says Safin

Has not been in the top 10 since October 2005

PARIS: Marat Safin said he might lose interest in tennis if his ranking slips.

``I'm not really into being around 50 in the world,'' Safin said after losing in the second round. ``It doesn't really motivate me to play good tennis and travel around all year.''

The 27-year-old Russian fears he would not get enough reward from a punishing schedule.

``Second round, third round. One semifinal somewhere in a small tournament and that's it,'' he said. ``So it doesn't give me enough motivation to continue.''

Safin, who was beaten by Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia this time, lost in the first round at Roland Garros last year.

Since winning his second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2005, Safin has only once reached the fourth round of a major. Ranked 25th, he has not been in the top 10 since October 2005.

``If it doesn't really click... and nothing comes up, then I will see,'' Safin said.

Retractable roof

Roland Garros will eventually get a showcourt with a roof, French Open general director Jean-Francois Vilotte has said.

Rain washed away all but 14 matches on the opening two days of the claycourt grand slam, frustrating fans, players and broadcasters alike.

World No. 1 Roger Federer reacted by saying he wanted organisers to follow the example of the Australian Open and Wimbledon by building a roof over a showcourt.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has been working for years on an ambitious plan to extend the Roland Garros stadium, on the leafy western edge of the French capital.

The stadium cannot be extended towards the nearby Bois de Boulogne, which is a protected area, but there is another option, on a spot close to the nearby Porte d'Auteuil crossroads.

``Contacts have already been made and the works could start in 2009,'' Vilotte said. ``Ideally, the 2011 French Open would take place on the extended venue.''

Good fighters

Ana Ivanovic thinks all Serbian tennis players have a ``tough mentality.''

``I think that's what we probably have in common,'' Ivanovic said after beating Sofia Arvidsson in the first round of the French Open. ``We're all very good fighters.''

The seventh-seeded Ivanovic is one of four Serbs who have done well this season, the others being the fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic and the men's No. 6 Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic who upstaged Marat Safin.

They already have seven titles between them this season.

``It's unbelievable for our country,'' the 19-year-old Ivanovic said.

``People have to realise that all we have in tennis here came from mud, from nothing,'' the 22-year-old Tipsarevic said. ``No one invested one dollar, one euro. There was no big tennis academy. There was no big tennis federation.''

Great life

Anastasia Myskina had so much fun after her foot surgery that she wondered why she came back to play. ``I had a great life. I don't know why I'm here,'' Myskina said.

She looked hampered in her movement, and could not chase down shots against her American opponent, Meghann Shaughnessy.

The 25-year-old Russian had a novel explanation for her lack of mobility.

``You can see that I'm moving like a big cow now,'' Myskina said. ``I can't push from my foot, from the left foot like I used to. I can't run.''

``I had a soccer show on television. I have no idea about soccer, but now I'm kind of into that,'' Myskina said, adding that she was also ``commentating (on) tennis.''

It gave her a glimpse of how life could be in the future. ``I had a great life these (past) five months in Moscow,'' Myskina said. ``So I know how it's going to be after tennis. And it's fine with me.''

Players have been sympathetic about her injury but she's not sure if it's totally sincere.

``All of them smile to me,'' Myskina said. ``So it's nice. But you never know what they say behind your back.''— Agencies

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