Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev met yesterday with Russian national tennis team and their captain Shamil Tarpischev in Kremlin. This year’s Beijing Olympics champion Elena Dementieva has given her Olympic “gold” racket to President Medvedev as a gift. Would you give your Olympic racket to your President?

Elena Vesnina blogs about the experience.  According to her, all the players were very nervous initially but thanks to Marat Safin who told a couple of jokes to break the ice, they relaxed and greatly enjoyed the experience. They drank some tea, and the President thanked them for all their achievements.

Dinara Safina looks gorgeous. I am not saying anything about her brother

Dementieva thinking: “Just don’t sell it on Ebay, please.”

Medvedev thinking: “What the hell is this?”

Marat Safin is famous for both his tennis and dating skills. His new girlfriend is Nastya Osipova, a Russian pop singer. Here are some photos for you to grade his new girlfriend:-)

See more photos here.

Q. Your sister was in here earlier after her win, and she talked about you actually have talked to her through the years about trying to learn from your…

MARAT SAFIN: My mistakes, yes. (laughter.)

Q. Can you just give us a couple minutes what you think of what she’s done professionally so far this year in particular and maybe what her chances are?

MARAT SAFIN: I think if she will do everything opposite of what I’ve been doing throughout the years she will be No. 1 in the world for a long time. That’s as simple as it is.

Read the full interview here.

Marat Safin has confirmed his participation in St. Petersburg Open ATP tournament starting on October 20. Safin was the tournament winner in 2000, and 2001.

In an interview with RBK TV Russia’s tennis boss Shamil Tarpischev has said that he has almost finalized the list of the Russian players for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. There are four spots available for Russia. Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Anna Chakvetadze are confirmed participants. For the last spot, Tarpischev said he still needed to make a decision between Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva. As for the men’s side, things are more complicated. Since there are five players equally qualifying for the four available tickets– Nikolay Davydenko, Mikail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov, and Marat Safin. June 8th is the deadline for the submission of the final participants’ list.

It looks like Pete Sampras has truly enjoyed playing three exhibitions against Roger Federer late last year, where he won the final match. Now AP reports that Sampras will play former world No. 1 player Marat Safin in an exhibition during the SAP Open tennis tournament Feb. 18 at HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Russian is 4-3 against Sampras, including a victory in the 2000 U.S. Open final. Sampras is also schedule to play Roger Federer at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 10.

(AP via Craig Hickman’s Tennis Blog)

The most charismatic Russian tennis player Marat Safin is celebrating his 28th birthday today. Happy Birthday Marat! (TIB: Safin is scheduled to play for Russia in a Davis Cup tie against Serbia in Moscow from Feb. 8 to 10. He has also confirmed his participation in Dubai Tennis Championships.)

My Dostoyevsky hero (aka Marat Safin) is out of the Australian Open. So much talent, so much passion, so much charisma…

…beaten 6-4 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-2 by Cypriot 15th seed Marcos Baghdatis in a thrilling second-round battle in Melbourne.

“Between the extended, attention-grabbing rallies, the thumps on the chest and the smashed rackets, it was quite a summit meeting for day four of a Grand Slam. But that was nobody’s fault but Safin’s. His ranking of 58 is not high enough for now to allow him the luxury of a seeding and the chance to work his way comfortably into the second week.

“I’m not going to give up straight away that I’m losing to Baghdatis,” said Safin, a Russian who will turn 28 later this month. “The year is pretty long, so I’ll have my chances, that’s for sure.” (Src)

(Photo: Reuters)

Russian Players Results, Second Round Singles

(2) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 7-6(0) 6-2

(6) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) d. (Q) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 6-3 6-4

(14) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Anne Kremer (LUX) 7-5 7-5(27)

Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 61 61

Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) 6-3 6-1

The Russian men were not as successful as the Russian women.

(32) Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) lost to Sam Querrey (USA) 6-7 (5-7), 64, 46, 26

Marat Safin (RUS) lost to Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 46, 46, 62, 63, 26.

21 players from Russia have entered the Australian Open for men’s and women’s singles matches. 17 of them have advanced to the second round.

The first round results of the Russian players:

Women’s Singles Winners:

(5) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) 6-4 6-3

(11) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Tzipora Obziler (ISR) 6-2 6-2 Read more »