Crazy Marat for another year.

(Taken from the offical marat safin website)

Friday 19.12.08 Marat News
Marat has made his decision and decided he will continue playing tennis for next year 2009. At the moment he will play Hopman Cup from 3rd January then Kooyong and the Australian Open where he will be seeded 29. Further details of his schedule will be released as and when available.

It's official folks we've got the crazy stud for one more year. Yeah, it's true, I'm a fanboi of Marat. However, let's be clear now, he drives me nuts, like pull my hair out, throw the remote through the window, beat my head against the wall nuts. Despite this, I still watch his matches and yes, they are entertaining, win, loss or well self-implosion. Well it's good to have him around for 2009. It was kinda of hilarious to think he was just as popular as number 90 in the world as number 3-4, maybe even more so.

Yeah, he's had his critics over the years. Yeah he probably could of won 2-3 more grand slams had he stayed focused more or was more mentally tough. 'Great talent but wasted' is the usual commentator quote. Personally, I don't think he's wasted anything at all. He's lived his life on his terms and played out the career the way he wanted to. Yeah, he get's frustrated on the court, he's blown matches but he's also played some of most brilliant artistic tennis against the worlds greats. You take the highs and the lows.

Honestly, sometimes during one of his tirades, I take comfort in the fact of how truly human he is. We've all dropped our racquets in disgust. Wanted to scream aloud after a blown overhead. Hell I've never broken a racquet but I've come pretty close. IMHO, I think that's why people like him. When people see Marat, they see parts of themselves out on the tennis court oppose to most of the other emotionally flat robots out there. He feels the game, it means something to him whether he takes it by the horns or throws it away in disgust. There's an emotional connection to the game we've all felt whether we're up 3-1 or down break point. That's why we love the guy. Here's to you big guy. Davai!