Was Sampras that off in his prediction about Safin? From Gracie. Thanks.

Gracie |

Ain’t it SAD?… This is from an article about ‘memorable quotes from the locker room’ on the US Open website.

Marat Safin on Pete Sampras’ claim that Safin was “able to be No. 1 in the world for as long a time as he wanted to”:

“See, even the geniuses make the mistakes. He was wrong.”

OMG! Talk about a lack of self-belief…or motivation…or whatever. Anyone who saw Safin play Sampras back in the 2000 USO (one of you freaks said you did – so did I), had to come away from that match thinking that Safin was sure to be the next Big Thing. He had shown so much potential before that, I even found myself kind of rooting for him to win. (Sorry Pete!) I remember thinking he played such a great match, he almost made Sampras look like an amatuer that day. When he did win (in straight sets, for you freaks living under a rock), it felt like some consolation – seeing the next great one ‘arrive’, instead of getting to see Pete take his record title… How wrong I was. And I guess Sampras was wrong too – but not about the talent part – Safin’s ability to be No. 1 – about the ‘wanting to’… Little did we know that Safin would become a player who doesn’t even need an opponent to be defeated on the court.