Marat the Wild

Roger Federer is doing his part to win Wimbledon again. Not so long ago, we were proclaiming Sampras as the best ever, even as his attempts at the French were not even worth mentioning. No one expected Federer to take the mantle of possibly-the-greatest-ever from Sampras so soon after Sampras.

In the next round, he's slated to meet with Marat Safin. It wasn't so long ago that people thought Safin might be the Chosen One. He had crushed Sampras in the US Open final, making Sampras look slow and ineffective. Safin could serve, and he could his groundies.

But like many unpredictable types, most notably, Goran Ivanisevic, Marat is up and down. He possesses the kind of power to win, but can lose to anyone. His concentration isn't always there. One could argue, with reason, that Federer is more talented, that even a guy like Marat Safin, at his best, couldn't beat Federer on an average day.

After all, it's been a while since Safin was at his best. Last year, he suffered injuries and was trying to come back. But I suppose, if anyone who gets really hot one day and has an outside shot of upsetting Federer, it would be Safin. I haven't seen him play, but he has made it through a few rounds, so that suggests Safin's game is not too bad.

Let's see how it fares.