Published: 11 November, 2009, 19:19
Edited: 11 November, 2009, 19:36
Former world No. 1 Marat Safin has played his last career tennis match, losing to Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round of the Paris Masters.
The Russian, who triumphed three times in the French capital in previous years, didn’t give up without a fight.
Del Potro converted one break point out of six to take the opener, but Safin came back in the second.
The decider appeared to be as tight as the two previous sets, but it was the Argentinean who triumphed in the end. Marat Safin’s final scoreline read 4-6, 7-5, 4-6.
The Russian star, who is just 29 years old, decided to quit his tennis career, as he says he is tired and does not enjoy being on the court any more.
“It's beautiful what people see on TV, when you're on the court, and there are all those people in the stadium,” Marat Safin told AFP news agency ahead of the game.
“But nobody sees the other side of it, when you have to get massaged, when you have to practice, when you have to do a lot of things. I haven't been able to do a lot of the things I want to do. Also, after a certain time, you live in a state of what feels almost like continuous stress. I want to get out of it, just so that I am able to breathe,” he added.
During his 13 years in the sport, Marat Safin has won 15 tournaments, including two Grand Slams – the US Open 2000 and Australian Open 2005.
He held the No. 1 ATP Ranking for nine weeks in 2000, and also twice won the Davis Cup with the Russian team in 2002 and 2006.