'My favorite player is Roger Federer' - Marat Safin
Roger Federer has enthralled tennis fans all over the world for more than two decades now. Chipping away at one record after another ever since he turned pro, Federer today has 20 Grand Slams and a legitimate claim to being called the GOAT.
The Swiss has found many rivals in his path to the apex of the sport, the most prominent of them being Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. However, Federer has been plying his trade in the sport well before the advent of the "Big 3"; he has gone toe-to-toe with some of the best players of the previous era too.
One of those players is his friend Marat Safin, who recently appeared in an AMA on the ESPN Spanish Twitter handle.
Roger Federer had some epic encounters with the Russian Marat Safin in the early-2000s, the most memorable of them being the 2005 Australian Open semifinal. That match was won by Safin, who would eventually go on to win the title by defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final.
In the freewheeling 'Ask Me Anything' session with ESPN, the Russian answered a wide range of questions - from how he came to learn Spanish to how many tennis racquets he has broken in his career.
Safin was then asked by a fan who was his favorite tennis player on the tour currently is. Without a moment of hesitation, Safin replied, "It's Roger."
For fans who regularly keep tabs on the off-court activities of the players, Safin's answer would not come as a surprise. The two-time Grand Slam champion has reiterated many times how great a player Roger Federer is, having seen the Swiss' peak from close quarters.
Roger Federer and Marat Safin: Rivals on the court, friends off it
In an interview a few days ago, the former World No. 1 had opened up on how he was helpless against Federer during his playing days. The mercurial Russian often found himself being given the runaround by the Swiss Express, with their career H2H being 10-2 in Roger Federer's favour.
That said, Safin and Federer have been good friends ever since they started playing each other as youngsters back at the 2001 Rome Open. The Swiss even played doubles with Safin at the 2004 Gstaad Open, and has enjoyed plenty of banter over the years with the big-hitting player.
When it came to their exchanges on the court Roger Federer was ruthless against Safin, never losing to him at a big event barring the 2005 Australian Open semifinal. Roger Federer has won five Australian Open titles since that match, which goes to show just how epic that one victory was for Marat Safin.