By DPA
Moscow : Russian Marat Safin has pulled the plug early on his tennis season, deciding to leave the Davis Cup final against the US to more in-form compatriots, according to his website.
“(Marat) will not play in the Davis Cup Final in the US,” said a statement on maratsafin.com Thursday. “Marat decided that there are four better players than him who are in form and can make sure they play to the best of their ability for Russia.”
Safin also revealed to the site that his September expedition to climb a mountain in Tibet appeared to have backfired, leaving him tired and without the will to work on his game.
“His mountain adventure, which he thoroughly enjoyed, took him out of his rhythm and also left him with no energy,” the website said. “He thought he was ready coming back (last week) in Moscow but found that his body just was not ready to cope with it. He thought he could play at a good level but it didn’t happen.”
Former world No.1 Safin, 27, showed little fire as he lost in the first round of this week’s Madrid Masters to Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
The double Grand Slam winner plans to take three weeks off before plotting strategy with his coach and management about approaching the 2008 season.