Melbourne: In the Australian Open men's singles third round match on Friday one of the greats in history will face a man who had all the tools to achieve greatness but fell short.
Roger Federer versus Marat Safin will be a tough contest for a berth in the last sixteen of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Both Federer and Safin have a lot in common. Both are former world No. 1s and are former Australian Open champions.
But they face each other at different points in their career graph with Federer desperate to reclaim his No. 1 ranking while Safin is looking for a final hurray in a career that promised so much.
"I have nothing to worry about, I am going to play my match and we know each other pretty well. He knows how to play against me. I know how to play against him. Unfortunately I didn't win a lot of matches against him but I am looking forward. I stand a chance, I have nothing to lose and I am going to go for it and whatever comes, comes," said Safin about the third round match.
Federer may hold the 9-2 edge in career meetings, but the catch is he has always lost to Safin after three wins.
And thw Swiss player is at the Melbourne Park with three victories against the Russian behind him.
"It's an intriguing match-up. Back when he was really at his very best - we had different personalities kind of even though growing up we were very similar. I sort of chilled out and he kept on going. It was just always, I thought, a good match-up. So I was actually happy. I think it was last year at Wimbledon I played him and we had a good match there. Yeah, I expect it to be tougher here on the hard courts, which should suit his game more," Federer said.
The last time they faced each other was at Wimbledon last year where Federer won comfortably.
But history counts for little as the two go into a match that promises to be a thriller.
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