ChinaOpen 2004

"Actually my serve saved me in the first set. I was happy in the long run. I served really well, it brings me confidence on the baseline."

(On winning a title): "You forget this feeling. I started to feel happy…Not party time, time to continue working." 

(On how his coach Peter Lundgren has helped him): "To hold my emotions a little bit longer, keep everything in yourself, there is a chance the other person will be surprised…to play better, perform better, remain calm to give a chance to win a match, not go crazy."

"I hope this is not going to be the last tournament I win in China. This one is the breaking points of winning more titles in Asia.

"I'll try to get into the Top 8, to get into the [Tennis] Masters Cup. That's my goal of course

Safin suspects he has an edge over Youzhny in Sunday's title match.

"I'm more experienced, a little bit older, and I've played more finals than him,'' he said.

Safin was buoyed by the Russian fans who won over the crowd, especially when they cheered in Chinese. Beijing has a large Russian community.

"I don't know what they are doing here, but it's nice to see Russian people supporting you in China,'' he said. "It's nice, a little bit funny.''


"There is no-one coming through," the former world number one said after reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open.

"There is not one person who we can say is the potential for the future."

Safin, who has not won a title for two years, paid tribute to all four women.

"You can't compare (the men and women)," said Safin, who was the last Russian man to win a grand slam, at the U.S. Open in 2000.

"The girls are much better than the guys. I'm really happy for the girls. The guys don't have the same ambition as the women have so it will be very difficult."

"My serve was great. My serve helped me to win the first set. Mikhail was a tough player, but my serve and baseline help me a lot," said Safin. "It was two years for my last title. It's great feeling to win again today and it won't be the last hopefully. I hope to come here next year," 

"I'm surprised the crowd is so kind to me. The title surely help me to reach the Masters Cup and it won't be my last title in China," the Russian No. 1 added. 


"It's so good to finally win another title," he said. "He was playing well and I was nervous at the start. 

"I'm not used to playing these matches for titles. I lost serve in the first game but then I steadied. I didn't want to lose, we both played well." 

"I had to fight the pressure and my expectations. Youzhny had nothing to lose. But I now have a lot more confidence in my game."