Denis Shapovalov lacked experience against Novak Djokovic - Safin
In an interview with Eurosport Russia, former world No. 1 Marat Safin commented on Novak Djokovic's straight-set win over Denis Shapovalov in the Paris Masters final. Safin watched the match from the first row and he awarded Djokovic the trophy. "Shapovalov lacked experience in facing players like Djokovic in the final. You can see he is still unexperienced. But a good professional like Mikhail Youzhny works with him. He will have to work hard, but Shapovalov has a great future. He is just 20 years old and reaching the Bercy final is a very good result," said Safin.
Asked if he planned to become a coach like his compatriots Nikolay Davydenko and Youzhny respectively did with Karen Khachanov and Denis Shapovalov, Safin added: "I would not reject but there are no proposals yet. If they made them, we could discuss. Of course, I will not be able to travel for the entire year, just for some weeks. Also, players do not necessarily need to travel with coaches all the time. Otherwise, you may get tired of me. Of course, the players should get along well with the coach. There are interesting guys who have a good heart, a good soul. That would be good. I would not like to work with the bad guys."
Safin won the Paris Masters three times. His first title there came in 2000, his second in 2002 and the last in 2004. In total, Safin won five ATP Masters 1000 title (then called the ATP Masters Series). The Russian retired in 2009, and in 2016, he was inducted into tennis' Hall of Fame.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Nm8P7n
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