Paolo Ghisoni

An Australian Open edition that, male level, has risked to bring to the top a name surely not resonant, and finds Yevgeny Kafelnikov the saver of the main recall sporting event in the kangaroos earth. The tennis noblesse is this way save thanks to the success of this soft arm 24 years old player, able to play an all field tennis without any limit. Born in a family where all members practised sport, the young Yevgeny, has been in the adolescent age all but a promise of the tennis racket. Notwithstanding the indolence and the unsystemaciticy, talent supports him till achieving to be one of the better products of the soviet movement. His training mate is a certain Medvedev, Ukraine, able in 1993 to place himself at the sixth world position. It is just Andrei, in no suspicious times, to put in alert the environment of the male circuit: “In Russia there are so many good young. In particular my peer Kafelnikov, who does not make me see neither a ball while we train. If he settles down and overall if he finds someone to wake him up early in the morning to come to the federal centres, my country will have found a very great champion “. In 1994 Kafelnikov gets form the 104th position to the 11th one. In 1995 Italians learn about him at the Milan tournament, where the Russian, since ever deemed to be more comfortable on the red earth, surprises everyone at the end of the fast indoor against a certain Boris Becker. But it is in 1996 when the Prince, the nickname given him for his scarce predilection to work himself to death on the tennis field, makes the season knock. The Roland Garros gives him the temporary title of the King of the red. For an instant many believe that a success like that may mean an important psychological spring for the Yevgeny's ambitions. Instead, notwithstanding a relevant talent, the Russian looses his way among the twists and turns of a surely top anonymity , but not so predominant. Two seasons, during which Kafelnikov conquers the title of workaholic of the circuit, playing the sizeable part of the matches, both singles and doubles with respect to any other colleague. Who advises him thinks to individuate in the hyper-activity the right recipe against indolence and unsystemaciticy often affecting him in the playing rectangle.Results are clear: the seesaw in and out the first ten of the world does not make justice of a tennis player who does not exploit at all, according to all the observers, his huge potentiality. Kafelnikov makes solid his unsystemacity, the fame of wasted genius or to say it better the fame of the unexpressed genius of the circuit. The dead end the 24 year old of Sochi seems to be entered is pitiless highlighted by the statistics about the trials of the slam; after the Yevgeny's victory at Paris he does not go beyond the quarterfinals in those that could and must be conquered countries. He also wins two on grass court tournaments and completes his prize record with the ability to win on any field. But this fact more than being a news makes one gets anger since it confirms how much his tennis ductility is wasted at the time the male circuit is under the monopoly of Sampras. But at the end of 1998 the Russian wins a series of important events. A marriage, maybe forced, since the birth of her daughter Aleysa and also the sodality with a very good coach as Larry Stefanki is. The rest is current actuality with the triumph at Melbourne in a tournament where the chance was too tasty not to catch it in full flight. The contemporaneous absence of Sampras and Rios, the early failures of Corretja, Moya and Agassi, all concurred to give him the final against the Swedish Enqvist, the most in form tennis player of the beginning of 1999 but still immature as regard to prestigious titles. Just in the final event we have seen traces of the new Kafelnikov, able to submit the rival by the mental point of view, to go up the slope and not to loss the contact with the match in moments he were use to absent himself. And also the physical capacity has contributed remarkably since the temperature was nearly 40°C. The new Prince, who could soon leave the nickname to get to an upper degree at court, has manifested for only a moment, traces of the insecurity he left behind. During the prize-giving and the ritual thanking he included a certain Sampras, saying that if the American champion had defended the title, probably he would have not been the winner. Stefanki did not like such declaration, and reprimanded publicly his assisted. “If Yevgeny reasons like that he will not go far. This success must mainly give him confidence and make him understand which are his huge potentialities. He can win this tournament and other ones also and mainly if Sampras and the best players are present. His tennis can and must better”. The impression is that, if this sodality will go on, Kafelnikov is on the right track.

 

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