Martin feels he and Agassi will do better on grass

Paris: American veterans Andre Agassi and Todd Martin are determined their careers will not end on the bitter note of defeat they both suffered here on the opening day of the French Open.

Agassi, 34, and Martin, 33, were the two oldest players in the men’s draw and they looked all of their years as they bowed out in the first round on Monday.

Agassi, champion here in 1999, lost to 23-year-old French qualifier Jerome Haehnel, ranked 231 in the world. Martin’s defeat at the hands of second-seeded countryman Andy Roddick was, at least, more forgivable.

But both men insist there’s plenty of gas left in the tank especially with the grasscourt season about to start.

“I don’t think there’s any great significance in the fact that both of us lost on the same day. I think we are both saving ourselves for the grass,” said Martin as he exited his 11th Roland Garros tournament.

Martin, the younger of the two Americans by nine weeks, has never got beyond the fourth round here but has twice been a semi-finalist at Wimbledon. Now, he believes both he and Agassi can support one another in what will surely be just a handful of further appearances at the All England Club.

“We came up together. He has achieved a lot more than I could ever dream of, but it’s nice to have a familiar face that you knew when you were 13 or 14. The locker room is a different place to be now and somehow you have got to make the most of the time that we are here.”

Like Agassi, Martin too has to balance the demands of playing on Tour with being a father, but his major concern remains trying to convince people that he is still in his early 30s despite the grey hairs.

“I don’t know a lot of the other guys and they don’t really know you,” he said. “They might do a quick head turn and say: ‘He’s got more grey hairs in person than on TV’.”

Safin can be No. 1: Coach

Meawhile, Marat Safin’s coach said on Tuesday that the Russian could topple Roger Federer as world No. 1 if only he could stay motivated

Peter Lundgren is qualified to talk about such things, having guided Federer to the Wimbledon crown last year.

Now he is working with former No. 1 Safin until Wimbledon at least. He believes the Russian, who lost to Federer in the Australian Open final in February, can be the best.

“Marat has so much raw talent, his potential is limitless,” the Swede said at Roland Garros where Safin is playing the French Open.

“His personality is very different to that of Roger’s but he’s great. He listens to what I tell him. I really like him very much. Sometimes I wish he would be a bit more motivated, because he has so much talent.”

Apart from Federer and Safin, Lundgren has also coached former world No. 1 Marcelo Rios and the Swede sees much in common between the trio.

“I was only saying the same thing to myself the other day, that I had coached probably the three most talented players of their generation,” he laughed.