Classic Rivalry: Safin vs Hrbaty

[scoop]

By Scoop Malinowski

This will be a new series, remembering forgotten classic rivalries in tennis. The first edition will be Marat Safin vs Dominik Hrbaty, who finished at 7-7 head to head, not counting Hrbaty’s final win in the Hopman Cup final four years after their final ATP meeting in 2005.

Safin had the huge forehand, backhand combination which seemed to fit in perfectly with Hrbaty’s flat counterpunching play style.

Safin won 15 career singles titles to Hrbaty’s 6 but, in one of those many stylistic quirk matchups, Hrbaty thrived under the firestorm of Safin baseline onslaughts. Safin, winner of two major titles, was not able to dominate Dominik, instead the two engaged in over a dozen physical, all-out slugfests.

“All the matches were close. And a lot of the matches were decided by one, two or maybe three balls. And many of these matches finished 7-6 in the third, 7-5 or 6-all. It was nice,” said Hrbaty in an interview we did in Miami a couple of years ago. “So it was really enjoyable playing these matches. And to watch them. Also he was top-ranked player, he was no. 1. Any time you play against those types of players, it’s a special match.”

In case you’re wondering, the Hrbaty vs Safin Hopman Cup final in 2009 was another classic punchout, won by Hrbaty. Hrbaty and teammate Dominika Cibulkova won the Hopman Cup for Slovakia 2-0 vs Marat and sister Dinara. Hrbaty does not have a super clear memory of the exact score, “I think I won 7-6 in the third.”

Series Tied 7-7
2005 ATP Masters Series Cincinnati OH, U.S.A. Outdoor Hard R16 Marat Safin 60 63
2005 ATP Masters Series Miami FL, U.S.A. Outdoor Hard R32 Dominik Hrbaty 766 61
2005 Australian Open Australia Outdoor Hard QF Marat Safin 62 64 62
2002 Rotterdam Netherlands Indoor Hard R32 Marat Safin 764 764
2001 Moscow Russia Indoor Hard R16 Dominik Hrbaty 60 46 765
2001 SVK v RUS WG Rd 1 Bratislava RR Dominik Hrbaty 63 61 64
2001 Australian Open Australia Outdoor Hard R16 Dominik Hrbaty 62 766 64
2000 St. Petersburg Russia Indoor Hard F Marat Safin 26 64 64
2000 Rotterdam Netherlands Indoor Hard R32 Dominik Hrbaty 46 61 767
1999 SVK v RUS QF Moscow, Russia RR Marat Safin 63 46 75 673 64
1999 Roland Garros France Outdoor Clay R16 Dominik Hrbaty 64 36 765 63
1999 Rotterdam Netherlands Indoor Hard R16 Marat Safin 764 57 63
1999 St. Petersburg Russia Indoor Hard QF Marat Safin 764 762
1998 Bastad Sweden Outdoor Clay R16 Dominik Hrbaty 36 62 61
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[mrzz]

Ha! Hrbaty, the true GOAT. The only man with a non-losing H2H against the big 3 + 1.

1 - 0 over Murray
1 -1 Over Djokovic (counting the challenger encounter, a match is a match)
3 -1 over Nadal
2- 1 over Federer

Long live the true GOAT!

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Which shirt? The pink one? That looks a lot like the pink shirts Fed and Rafa have donned? Fed proved real men wear Pink.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

mrzz; That is an amazing stat by Hrbaty, for sure the only player to be head to head ahead of the Fantastic Four. Might have to nominate Hrbaty for Newport just for that.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Hrbaty just wasn't known enough to innovate that innovation into the mainstream like Fed Rafa and Serena could have. Sampras sparked the baggy shorts popularity. Agassi introduced the neon colors and denim shorts. Interestingly Nadal's long shorts and sleeveless did not become as prevalent as other innovations. I saw one guy in my life dressed up like Nadal in that pirate look and he was in his 50s and so he looked like an absolute clown.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I have two favorite Hrbaty stories. Playing top five seed Kafelnikov at US Open on grandstand, afternoon match. Four kids in the front row in front of media box were cheering madly for Hrbaty, like crazy super intense cheering, fair cheering but very influential. They were a factor in the match. You wondered why did Hrbaty have these four or five Americans going nuts for him? Well it lifted Hrbaty's game too, he was crushing Kafel and ended up beating him badly in three sets. Kafel was annoyed and I still remember the looks of anguish on his face after losing points. He did not tank. So I asked the kids Why on earth were they so supportive of a Slovak. The one kid the leader I guess said they met him at Hamlet Cup the previous week and Hrbaty liked how they cheered for him and said he would give them US Open tickets if they cheered for him like that at US Open. Second one, I asked Hrbaty about playing Rios. He mad many matches with Rios, and one in particular in Davis Cup in Slovakia, Rios was cruising up two sets to love and it was easy. Hrbaty finally had his first break point midway in the third at like 3-3. Rios faulted and on second serve, Hrbaty said a fan in the crowd made a noise with some noisemaker right on Rios' toss and he double faulted - break to Hrbaty who came back and won the match as Rios totally fell apart. Hrbaty smiled about the guy with the noisemaker, didn't admit it was his friend but didn't deny it either Hrbaty was definitely a very smart, crafty, intelligent player though he does not get the credit for it, most think he was only a savage ballstriker.