MELBOURNE - The James Dean of tennis has proved he can tame his rebel streak.
Marat Safin's Australian Open title came four years since his last Grand Slam crown - a gap during which the tennis world grew to fear that his unquestioned talent might never be fulfilled.
Against Lleyton
Hewitt, Safin's sometimes questionable temperament was beyond reproach, fighting his way back from a dismal first set to triumph 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
After losing that first set, or even in the third when he trailed 1-4, he seemed set to join Stefan Edberg with the unhappy record of three losses in four attempts at the Open final, and his doubters looked wise.
But against Hewitt, his maturity had belatedly grown to match his talent.
Safin and world No 1 Roger Federer are widely regarded as the two most talented players on the tour, but while the level-headed Federer has been comfortable with such status, for Safin it had appeared to be something of a burden.
Since winning the US Open as a 20-year-old, his life has been lived in the spotlight of fame - something the introverted Russian had bridled against.
His failure to win a Grand Slam title since - not helped by long-term injuries in 2003 - had frustrated his most ardent supporters.
They pointed to his liking for the high life, beautiful women and his sometimes cryptic but always entertaining philosophies on life as evidence of distraction.
Indeed, at his lowest points Safin seemed as if he would remain an underachieving talent on a par with the likes of Ilie Nastase, Henri Leconte and Goran Ivanisevic - brilliant but enigmatic.
Former world No 1 and respected tennis commentator John McEnroe was among the admirers who recognised that risk.
"If people could just make him understand how big it would be for him to step up and play with the type of fire that a Hewitt plays with - it would be incredible for tennis," McEnroe said.
Two other admirers - friend and former professional Arnaud Casagrande and Russian Davis Cup and Fed Cup coach Shamil Tarpishev - drew comparisons with two American icons.
"For me, Marat is the [actor] James Dean of tennis," Casagrande said.
"He loves life and can't refrain from profiting from it, even if it means that he burns his wings."
Said Tarpishev: "Marat Safin has the talent and the flair to become the Michael Jordan of tennis, but lacks the desire and the drive to make it all the way to the top."
Others, such as former world-beater Jim Courier, kept the faith, believing that Safin could yet become the dominant force he always threatened to become. "On his best day, I don't think there's another guy who's as good as he is," Courier said.
"He's young - there's no reason he can't have a beautiful career.
"It's really going to be in spite of himself if he does not."
Safin is not a man without a drive for success - he cried when he lost to Anna Kournikova as a 9-year-old.
But the Russian was sanguine about his chances of realising his abundant natural talent, trying not to hasten fate. "[Form] is like love - when you look too hard, you don't find it," he said. "When you let it happen naturally, it comes."
Safin realised the need to curb his excesses - the racquet-smashing fits of rage, the desire to throw matches when up against it.
He bristles with resentment when people highlight or revel in those excesses, as he knows those fits of pique and mental fragility are overplayed but still separate him from the tennis summit.
"I am not a singer or a rock star. Tennis is tennis. If you want to see a clown, go to a circus," he said.
Safin employed a string of coaches in his quest to achieve such serenity, with the incumbent being Peter Lundgren, Federer's former coach.
"I don't need to change things in my game. It is good enough," Safin said.
"What I need to improve is my mental ability; to learn not to frustrate myself.
"[Coaches] say, 'Now I am here, you will do what I say'. Why? I am also a person, I have been on the tour since I was 18, so I am not somebody from kindergarten.
"I know what I need to beat other players."
Marat Safin (Russia)
Age: 24.
Ranking: 4.
Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand).
Career prizemoney: US$12 million.
Career titles: 15.
Grand Slam titles: 2.
Best Australian Open performances: runner-up 2002, 2004; won 2005.
Australian Open match win-loss record: 26-5.
- AAP
Russia's Marat Safin rides the front of a tram while holding the Australian Open trophy in Melbourne yesterday. Picture / Reuters
MELBOURNE - The James Dean of tennis has proved he can tame his rebel streak.
Marat Safin's Australian Open title came four years since his last Grand Slam crown - a gap during which the tennis world grew to fear that his unquestioned talent might never be fulfilled.
Against Lleyton
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