Safin says now is perfect time to say goodbye to tennis (Feature)

By Bill Scott Sep 2, 2009, 20:54 GMT

New York - Russian Marat Safin is counting the days to when he can kiss tennis goodbye, with five events left to play after crashing without regrets from the first round of the US Open.

The two-time Grand Slam champion, who will quit the game in two months when he plays at Paris Bercy for the final time, exited at Flushing Meadows nine years after his shock title victory over Pete Sampras.

On Wednesday, Safin lost to Austrian Jurgen Melzer 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, barely noticing the end of his 11-year run at majors.

'It's okay, it's the end, the last one. It could have been (a) better ending, but still okay,' Safin said. 'I'm looking forward to (after) my career, so I have no regrets - and I don't care about losses anymore.'

After being grilled at every event that he has played in 2009, whether this will really mark a stopping point, Safin is more than tired of dispensing identical answers.

'I think it is the perfect timing, because I'm still young,' said the 29-year-old. 'I don't have a family, I'm ready to make a change - why not? I'm ambitious, I want to achieve some things.'

He claimed to be different from other people who want to do nothing with the rest of their lives and 'talk nonsense on ESPN, talk about my match against Sampras. I will not do that. I want to achieve something else.'

Safin said that he made the decision to give up his career late in 2008, and now wishes that perhaps he'd waited to announce the news.

'My manager called me (last November) and gave me a great offer to play for another year, so I gave it a shot. But now I have just decided it is my last one.'

He insisted that the decision had been made. 'I want to stick to it. I'm happy (with) what I'm doing. I'm okay with the decision.'

Safin said that the next chapter of his life won't include tennis, a plan obviously subject to change over the coming years.

'It's been a long ride, so I need some time off, you know. It's enough. It was a great 12 years of my career. I don't think I played five years and I retired. I've been around for a long time.'

And he's looking forward to the day when he loses his last match so he can get off the stage for awhile.

'I'm getting too many questions about what I'm going to do, why I'm retiring, and this and that. So I answer the same question - I don't know - a thousand times. Just go on Google and you have the same answer ... Just a few tournaments to go, so I can manage.'