Safin ends the doubts at last

The deep well of self-doubt that Russia's Marat Safin has been staring into since he won his first grand slam title as a 20-year-old at Flushing Meadows in 2000 threatened to consume him again in the Rod Laver Arena.

Terrible nerves gripped his mind and froze his body for a set and half against Lleyton Hewitt before he finally broke the psychological shackles to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

And he has Roger Federer, the world number one, to thank. Not because the former Australian Open champion, and reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion, was below his best when the two met in Thursday's semi-final. Rather that at the end of 2003 Federer decided to part company with his coach, Peter Lundgren, who last May joined forces with Safin.

"You need to believe in yourself and I didn't," said Safin. And it has been Lundgren who has so successfully nurtured that belief. Yet even the calm and encouraging words of his coach could not help him for those first awful 30 minutes. The hollow noise from Safin's racket indicated he was mistiming the ball, and his feet refused to move.

Lundgren and Safin had talked long and hard about the problems Hewitt would set, and the way the Russian could win. Essentially he needed to impose his much more powerful game on the Australian, who was feeling his own pressures after becoming the first men's home player to reach the final since Pat Cash in 1988. But the Safin power was initially switched off almost completely.

"I was scared, nervous, and passive. I could not serve, I could not run. I was so disappointed," he admitted.

Safin is a huge, affable man who gets on with almost everybody in the locker-room. When he pulverised Pete Sampras in straight sets in the US Open final five years ago, everybody assumed he would develop into a dominant force. The one proviso was his temperament. He raged, smashed rackets, fought out a constant duel on court with himself.

And as the rumours began - that he was an immensely talented player but not one who would win any more of the world's four major tournaments - he began to believe them. And his two previous defeats in the Australian Open final (in 2002 to Sweden's Thomas Johansson and last year to Federer) further ate away at his self-belief.

"Peter helped me believe in myself. This win against Lleyton means so much more to me than the win in New York. Maybe now I can go on and win a couple more slams, and perhaps become the world number one again. It has been such a relief."

Hewitt, having fought through three enormous matches in the previous three rounds - although none quite as big as Safin's semi-final victory over Federer - must have felt, after the first set, that the title was there for the taking. Of course, he did not dare believe Safin could continue to be as poor, but the 29-year gap since the last Australian, Mark Edmondson, won this title appeared bridgeable.

Safin was obsessed with not allowing Hewitt to run down his shots on the forehand side, so much so that he missed several easy kills by allowing the Australian to second guess him and move to the backhand side. But gradually Safin was cranking up the power, and one break was enough to level.

Even then he veered towards the cautious, which enabled Hewitt to open up a 3-0 lead in the third set. Safin called for the trainer to massage his legs but it was his mind that needed manipulating. Suddenly everything clicked. At 4-2 up Hewitt lost his serve, raged at a line judge who had foot-faulted him, and in what seemed a blink Safin reeled off seven successive games, including three breaks of serve.

"To be honest I think he ran out of gas. When I broke him in the third set I think his belief went. He was missing that extra step, and he could not cope," said Safin.

For Hewitt, this was his third major final defeat in a row. Last year he lost to Federer in the US Open final and also in the Tennis Masters Cup. "My game has improved and I can walk away with my head high," he said, before adding forlornly: "But it would have been nice to have won one of them."

And this one especially.

Guardian Service