Marat Mikhailovich Safin (born January 27, 1980) is
a Russian former World No. 1 tennis player of Tatar
ethnicity. He speaks Russian, English and Spanish.
Safin began his professional career in 1997 and held
the No. 1 world ranking for 9 weeks in November and
December of 2000. He achieved his first Grand Slam
title at the 2000 U.S. Open after defeating Pete
Sampras, and later won the 2005 Australian Open
defeating Lleyton Hewitt. Safin also helped lead
Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.
