Safin and Nalbandian in finals? That’s a scene we haven’t seen for a while. Nalbandian had a tough one against Solderling but he came through. Safin on the other hand was beaten by his Russian peer Igor Kunitsyn. It’s a shame that he could not come through as what we need right now is for Safin to win a few titles and get his confidence back.

Next up is Madrid masters, and we have exciting matchups already. Gulbis vs. Nadal is going to take the cake though.

Today is truly one of the saddest day for any true Marat Safin fan. Safin lost to Bobby Reynolds in the first round of Miami masters and fell to 1-5 for the year. I can’t imagine Safin continuing his career if he goes to 1-10 or anything like that. He is too proud for that and as a former world No. 1 and 2-times Grand Slam champion, he deserves better than being only a 1 time winner in the first 3 months of the year. Unfortunately, Safin seems too unstable to mount challenge for big titles, so expect him to retire by the end of 2008.

It seems that Sampras is getting more active by the day. This time he is challenging Marat Safin in an exhibition match. As you may remember, Sampras did get a win against Federer last year, so technically beating Safin should be much easier for the man. That’s of course if you don’t remember how Safin beat up the old guy in the 2000. Of course, that Safin is all gone right now and we have a volatile kid who breaks tennis rackets for a living. Still I think Safin will win this match as he is no Federer, and he will be extra motivated not to give the previous era anything more to brag about. I wonder if we will ever see a Nadal vs. Sampras matchup. Now that would be fun!