By Sonia Oxley
LONDON, June 28 - Consistency meets
unpredictability when Roger Federer faces Marat Safin in
Wimbledon's third round on Friday.
The Swiss world number one and the Russian former world
number one could not be more different.
Federer's favourite surface is grass, which is Safin's least
loved. Federer is the model of decorum on the court, while
hot-headed Safin can often be seen yelling at officials and
slamming down his racket.
Dependable Federer has spent more than three years on top of
the rankings, while erratic Safin has yo-yoed over the same
period at anything from number three to 104.
Despite the Russian's up-and-down results, Federer is well
aware of the threat that a top-of-his-game Safin poses, and
memories of their thrilling 2005 Australian Open semi-final are
not too distant.
The Russian twice came back from a set down and saved a
match point in the fourth-set tiebreak to beat Federer 5-7 6-4
5-7 7-6 9-7 on his way to the title.
Their last encounter, on the grass at Halle two years ago,
was also close, with Federer winning in three sets.
"He's obviously a player who can always upset anybody on any
day. I hope he's not going to have one of those crazy good days
against me," Federer told a news conference on Thursday.
"But I think I can pretty much control also how things are
being played on grass. Hopefully I can use my variety against
him."
Safin was relishing the challenge of facing the top seed and
said anything could happen if he took his chances.
"I have nothing to lose because he's the favourite here,"
said the 27-year-old Russian, who is seeded 26th.
"If I want to have a chance at least to be close to beating
him, I have of course to put up my best game, go for it."