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Caps player Dmitry Tursunov conquers Marat Safin and Sargis Sargsian at Wimbledon

June 30, 2004 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Sacramento Capitals News Release


Dmitry Tursunov, a premier player for the Sacramento Capitals this season, dispatched Wimbledon's 19th seed, Marat Safin, with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(1) victory in the first round. Safin is a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist and U.S. Open champion as well as this year's Australian Open runner-up.

Tursunov, the Granite Bay-based Russian who reached a career-high No. 66 in early June, was playing at Wimbledon for the first time. The 21-year-old Russian, who fired 18 aces in his Wimbledon debut to stun his compatriot, had never won a professional match on grass.

"I wouldn't say that grass is my best friend, but neither one of us is a grass-courter so I think we had fairly even chances going into this match," said Tursunov when asked if he liked playing on this surface.

"Obviously Marat was favored to win because he is more famous and higher-ranked, but this match shows that we have very good depth on the men's tour and anyone can win on any given day."

Safin's frequent modus operandi is to smash racquets during matches when things aren't going his way. "He broke one racquet but he didn't go as nuts as I would picture him to do," remarked Tursunov.

A surly Safin explained: "I didn't feel like playing. I don't like to play on this surface...Every time, I don't know how it's going to bounce. So after awhile, I get bored. I lost completely motivation and I give up."

Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin was a courtside spectator but left the match after it was level at one set apiece.

Tursunov is capable of being a "giant-killer" on big occasions based on his performance at last year's U.S. Open, where he took down former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in the first round.

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World TeamTennis Stories from June 30, 2004


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