Russian sixth seed Marat Safin clinched his third Paris Masters title on Sunday as he overwhelmed Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the final of the €2,45-million tournament.
Only German legend Boris Becker, in 1986, 1989 and 1992, had previously won three Paris titles. Sunday’s victory also gave Safin, champion in Paris in 2000 and 2002, his 14th career crown.
It was his third win of the season to follow victories in Beijing in September and at the Madrid Masters three weeks ago.
”I didn’t have a great middle of the year but finally success is coming again at last,” said crowd favourite Safin, who now has a 21-2 win-loss record at this event stretching back to his first appearance in 1999 where he was runner-up to Andre Agassi.
”Coming to Paris, in winter and the summer, is always one the great experiences in my life and the crowds here keep tennis alive.”
Stepanek, ranked a modest 63rd in the world, was playing in his first career final after eight years as a professional and was trying to become the first qualifier to win a Masters event since Spain’s Albert Portas won in Hamburg in 2001.
But despite a brief rally in the second set, he simply didn’t have the firepower or the range of shot to hurt seriously the 24-year-old Russian, who is now destined to finish the year at number four in the world — having started 2004 at 86.
Safin raced through the first set in just 35 minutes, breaking in the second game and then having two set points in the eighth game, which he was unable to convert as the Czech qualifier struggled to stay afloat.
But the Russian, who now has five Masters titles to add to the US Open he clinched in 2000, wrapped up the opener in the next game with a trademark double backhand drive that left Stepanek utterly bemused.
The Czech’s mood would not have been improved when he fell 2-1 down in the second set after a Safin backhand caught the top of the net and looped agonisingly over him as he stood stranded waiting to volley.
The 25-year-old Stepanek then tried to make a match of the final.
At the changeover, he reached into his bag and pulled on a Pat Cash-style headband and his luck immediately changed, breaking back to 2-2 and then having two more break points in the sixth game that could have given him a 4-2 lead.
Safin, with his ever-fragile temperament becoming more strained, clung on despite winning just two points on Stepanek’s next four service games.
Had he lost the second set tiebreak, the Czech would have sensed his chance to clinch a famous win, but the Russian came back from 4-2 down in the breaker to take the set when Stepanek hit a backhand volley wide after one hour and 33 minutes on court.
Safin regained his dominance in the third set, serving three successive love games to open up a 4-3 lead and then broke to go 5-3 courtesy of a fierce, cross-court backhand pass.
He nervously survived two break points in the next game before taking the title after two hours and 18 minutes when Stepanek hit a forehand return long.
The statistics of the match summed up the difference between the two players — both men hit 32 winners but Stepanek sent down 48 unforced errors compared with Safin’s 18. — Sapa-AFP