Marat Safin (8) def. Harel Levy (Q), 6-2, 6-3,
Singles Final
Previous head-to-head: First meeting
It was a wild week uf upsets in Toronto, but form held true for the final. The underdog Israeli challenger Harel Levy ran out of miracles against the 8th seed Marat Safin. The accuracy and power of the tall, strong Russian dictated the match, and the game Levy had few replies, losing 6-2, 6-3 in 54 minutes.
In cool temperatures and under an overcast sky, Levy won the toss and elected to receive.
He started the match strong, displaying his impressive one-handed backhand with a pair of winners down the
line, and showing his touch with a nifty backhand lob. Safin was surprisingly in early trouble, and Levy
cashed in on his second break point with a forehand winner that wrong-footed the Russian. Harel's father
Yoel, who had flown here from Israel yesterday morning to witness his son's semifinal win over Jiri Novak,
applauded heartily at seeing his boy take a 1-0 lead.
But Levy produced a poor effort in the second game, losing his serve at love on two double faults and two forehand errors. Levy had already had the best moments he was to experience in this final, and it was all Safin the rest of the way.
The 20-year-old Russian's power serve was dominant; his groundstrokes were potent and error-free; he also came to the net on occasion (usually attacking Levy's backhand) and showed his rapidly improving volleying talents. Levy was as impressed as everyone else. "He hits the ball hard and is one of the strongest players on tour. When his first serve goes in it's 200 km/h, and that's difficult. I tried changing some things, tried coming in on my serve, but he had all the answers."
Levy's only hope was to hold serve and hope for a close set, but he was hurting his own cause by not serving well. If Levy stayed on the baseline Safin's power often forced him into errors. Marat broke the Israeli's serve twice more in the first set, including the set's final game. At 0-30, Safin, toying with Levy now, produced a rare drop shot winner, and the Israeli committed a double fault on set point. Safin had a 6-2 lead and was looking imperial.
The second set began much like the first: Levy was holding serve with difficulty and Safin was doing so with ease. At 2-3, 15-30, Levy made a routine forehand error and showed the first visible evidence of frustration, flailing his racquet in the air. Safin converted the break at 30-40 with a forcing crosscourt forehand, and consequently had his nose well in front 4-2, with an option on the match now. The crowd tried to rally Levy, one fan screaming "Come on Levy, I paid for three sets!" But the end s
eemed near now.
Serving for the match at 5-3, Safin showed nerves briefly for the only time in the match. He dumped three consecutive forehands into the net, it was 0-40, and Levy and the crowd had brief hope. But Marat snuffed it out five straight powerful points (volley winner, service winner, forehand winner, volley winner, ace), and it was over. Make the final, 6-2, 6-3. A happy Safin celebrated the fourth and most significant tournament title of his career, and was now the youngest Canadian champion since an 18-y
ear-old named Chang won here in 1990. The talented Russian will jump from 8th to 4th in next week's
"Champion's Race" rankings. I asked about his "entry" ranking, but was told, "We don't hand that out anymore." Grrrrrrr!
The ever-popular trophy presentation: Both players were presented with cheques, trophies, and Mountie hats. Sadly for Marat and Harel, they felt obliged to wear the silly-looking headwear. Levy, after accepting a $211,000 cheque that more than doubled his previous career earnings, took off the hat to make his speech. Harel seemed emotional as he told the crowd, "I cannot describe my emotions, it's a dream come true." The surprise finalist also went out of his way to thank Larri Passos, Gustavo
Kuerten's coach, who has helped Levy on and off this year, and especially this week. "I owe him a big thanks."
Safin, with the Mountie hat still on his head as he addressed the crowd, not only thanked his temporary coach Alexander Volkov, but also his lovely Spanish girlfriend Silvia Torrens-Valero, who was in attendance. Yes, Silvia is the sister of Cristina Torrens-Valero, who plays on the women's tennis tour.
Post mortem: Levy, who turned 22 yesterday, can console himself with the best week of his career and a huge leap in the "race" rankings, from 133rd to the top 60. Don't ask about his entry ranking! "My first main goal was to reach the top 100, which I did this week. Now my goal is to reach the top 50, which I should do by the end of the year." Now it's on to Cincinnati. He has received a special exemption into the Cincinnati tournament, where he plays Andrew Ilie of Australia in the first round
on Tuesday.
Our champion Marat Safin had arrived in Toronto last week down in the dumps about his game. "I came here, I couldn't play tennis. You can ask Marcelo [Rios]. I practiced with him, he beat me 6-1 and 6-2. I couldn't do anything." Marat had been playing hit-and-miss
tennis in his first two matches against Bjorkman and Pavel, dropping a set in each before regrouping to win. "It's a question of work, hours, experience and long matches," said the loquacious Russian. "And you start to be more clever, you calm down, you fight, and everything will come."
Despite the easy win, Safin was charitable in his assessment of Levy. "I have more experience than he has,
it was a question of experience, nothing else. He is a good player, he has forehand, backhand, volley,
everything." Indeed, Levy is an intelligent and talented all-round player, fun to watch. We hope that he continues his improvement and that we see a lot more from him.
We know we will see a lot more from Safin, who is positively scary when his game gets going and has been ticketed by none other than Pete Sampras as a likely number one player in the future.
Safin doesn't think number one is possible this year. "Sampras, Norman and Kuerten are going too good. They will not drop as easy in the other tournaments. I'm thinking about top 5. I think next year I can fight for it [number one]."
Maja from Slovenia strikes again: One of the delights of press conferences here this week has been Maja from Slovenia. A slim, attractive young woman with short blonde hair, she has invariably asked off-the-wall questions prefaced by "I am Maja from Slovenia and I have two or three questions."
Today Maja from Slovenia asked Safin about his memories of playing a lowly Challenger tournament
in Slovenia in 1998 ("I liked it, I got of points there, reached the semis"), and if he planned to have a
big party tonight ("Unfortunately I have to got to go to Cincinnati, otherwise I would invite you"). I hope that Silvia Torrens-Valero doesn't read that last quote!