FONÁK. Több sportoló szerepelt az indulók között
Zsenya a pókerrel is keres
"Megadja? Nem, nem adja meg... De megadja! Megadta! Hihetetlen! Megadta!" - Korda Györgyöt manapság tízezrek hallgatják hétről hétre, a sokszoros aranylemezes énekes a Lady N helyett ezúttal profi pókerversenyek közvetítéséhez adja a nevét. Tegyük hozzá, többnyire a nézőkre is átragad lelkesedése, ahogyan a zöld asztalnál történteket szakértőként kommentálja.
Ezekben a hetekben a Pacific Poker Open szerepel a sportcsatorna műsorán, s ez a torna a sportkedvelők számára egyébként is különösen érdekes, elvégre több egykori, illetve még ma is aktív sportoló szerepelt az indulók között - néhány napja egy régi ismerős, az olimpiai bajnok, Roland Garros- és ausztrál Open-győztes teniszező, Jevgenyij Kafelnyikov oktatta a profi kártyásokat, s ravasz játékával meg is nyerte elődöntőjét. Elárulhatjuk: bár a televíziós sorozat még tart, a torna a valóságban már véget ért, és "Zsenya", vagyis Kafelnyikov a fináléban is kitett magáért: a biliárdbajnok Matthew Stevens és a dartsbajnok Phil Taylor mögött, három profi kártyást megelőzve a harmadik helyen végzett.
"Az a legfontosabb számomra, hogy a rajongóknak ne okozzak csalódást. Nagyon keményen megdolgoztam azért, hogy otthon ilyen elismeréssel tekintsenek rám. Ha ma Moszkvában megkérdezi tőlem valaki az utcán, hogy miért hagytam abba, azt mondom, azért, hogy ne sírjanak az emberek, amikor veszítek" - magyarázta Kafelnyikov 2003-as visszavonulásakor.
Nos, azóta Moszkvában más élmények is érték: új "sportágában", a pókerben megnyerte az orosz bajnokságot. "Nagyon izgalmas játék, az ember nem a kártyákkal, hanem a saját képességeivel nyerhet. A testbeszéddel befolyásolni lehet a játszmák alakulását, önbizalomra pedig ugyanannyi szükség van, mint a teniszben, ha az ember nem hisz magában, nem is nyerhet" - fogalmazta meg kártyás hitvallását az immár kissé kerekebb arcú világsztár.
Kafelnyikov a londoni Pacific Poker Openen elért harmadik helyezéséért százezer dollárt vehetett át, míg a moszkvai győzelemért tízezret utaltak a számlájára, vagyis a kártyával már több mint 20 millió forintot keresett!
Mindez persze csak aprópénz a számára, hiszen profi teniszezőként 1992 és 2003 között csak a pénzdíjakból csaknem 24 millió dollár, vagyis 4.5 milliárd forint ütötte az orosz sztár markát..."
Yevgeny Kafelnikov: The 'stubborn Russian nut' who has given up tennis to play poker Brian Viner 15 November 2004 Yevgeny Kafelnikov. It is a name one might almost expect to find at the top of a "Where are they now?" feature. Five years ago, he was ranked top male tennis player on the planet. Yet without officially declaring his retirement, the 30-year-old Russian, twice a Grand Slam champion and Olympic gold medallist in Sydney, has disappeared from the tournament scene, a characteristically enigmatic career move by one of the quirkiest men ever to play top-level tennis. Or top-level anything, come to that. "A stubborn Russian nut," the assessment of his former coach, Larry Stefanki, might be considered an understatement.
Where Kafelnikov is now - at least on the chilly November day I meet him - is in Maidstone, Kent. He is here to compete in the 888.com Pacific Poker Open, which has a bigger cash incentive than many of the tennis events he played in: $10,000 (£5,400) just to get through round one, $500,000 to the eventual winner. Even when the prize is not so alluring, it is at the card table that Kafelnikov gets his kicks these days. But he doesn't play just for kicks. Just as Stefanki once coached him in tennis strategy, so he has hired his compatriot Kirill Gerasimov, professional poker's Rookie of the Year in 2002, to do the same with a deck of cards.
Under Gerasimov's tutelage Kafelnikov seems to be developing into a formidable poker player. At a tournament in Moscow he knocked out Dave Colclough, the Roger Federer of European poker. But by all accounts he needs to introduce a little more subtlety and stealth into his game. "He's very aggressive and likes to bully the table," says a poker devotee of my acquaintance. "He plays poker rather like he plays tennis."
Plays tennis? Or played? I confront the man himself with the $64,000 question. And like the poker player he has become, he takes my $64,000 question and raises another $64,000 question.
"I have retired," he tells me, with the ghost of a smile. "But I have not officially announced it yet. Some people still think I am just taking a break, but I believe that my time in tennis has gone by. Even if I came back, I would have no chance to play at the level I was. Tennis is a young man's sport right now. Obviously there are some exceptions, like [Andre] Agassi. He's 34 and still competing, but he's the one and only. And I played 1,000 matches in my tennis career. That's more than enough, no?"
I agree with him that it probably is. There is something about Kafelnikov - I nearly wrote Kalashnikov, which would have been an understandable slip of the keys - that brooks no dissent. Partly it is his size (he is 6ft 3in but seems taller), partly his inscrutability, and partly his sheer Russian-ness. I hate to resort to cliché but there really is something of the Bond villain about him, an aura intensified by his polo-necked top and bad haircut, not to mention his friendship with some decidedly shady characters, notably Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, the alleged gangster who was arrested in connection with fixing figure-skating competitions at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
He shrugs when I mention this association. "I am still friendly with him. There's nothing I can do about it. I have known this guy for many, many years.' And he shrugs again when I mention the investigation into match-fixing in tennis that was partly provoked by his withdrawal from a tournament in Lyon last year. "It was a false accusation, and I tried not to pay too much attention. But it did hurt my reputation."
We are sitting in a small room somewhere in the bowels of Maidstone Studios, where the Pacific Poker Open is being recorded by Challenge TV. Kafelnikov has agreed to do just one interview and I am the chosen one, although frankly it doesn't feel like much of a privilege. Kafelnikov not only plays poker like he played tennis, but handles interviews in the same unequivocal manner. Questions are like mistimed lobs; to be shown a grudging respect, then dispatched as speedily and emphatically as possible.
I ask whether he finds any similarities between poker and tennis.
"Yes," he says. His English is excellent, if heavily accented. "You need guts in poker, as in tennis. And if you don't believe in your ability, you don't win. In tennis I believed in myself, that's why I had so much success."
Does he honestly not think he could still compete at the highest level? After all, he is the same age as Tim Henman, who has just enjoyed the best 12 months of his career.
"It is true. But Henman started his career later. I began at 19, and now it is impossible to compete with guys 10 years younger. They are more hungry. I played five or six matches indoors, at the end of 2003, and I thought, 'I can't do this any more'. I was losing to guys who, a couple of years before, I was able to beat with only my left hand. That's when I realised my time was gone.
"The most important thing was not to disappoint my fans. It is very hard to earn a good image in Russia. Once you do, you're a hero. But if you then do something wrong, you're treated like, like, I can't even think of a word to describe it. I dedicated myself to playing for Russia. I played all Davis Cup matches, I won Olympic gold, I still have a very good image.
"So when people on the street in Moscow ask why I stopped playing, I say 'because I don't want to see you people crying when I lose'. They understand that."
Kafelnikov, faithful to his fierce sense of Russian identity, has no desire to live in Miami or Monte Carlo. His home is in Moscow, where he sees as much as he can of his six-year-old daughter, Alesja, from whose mother, Masha Tishkova, he is divorced. Theirs was a volatile relationship from the start. She gave up a modelling career because he demanded it, while the injury that kept him from playing in one Grand Slam event was rumoured to have been incurred during a domestic argument. A different kind of grand slam, perhaps?
Maybe Tishkova was also disapproving of his increasing devotion to golf; he is a four-handicapper and entered Russia's amateur championship this year, striving like Ivan Lendl before him to hit a stationary ball as marvellously as he could hit a moving one. But away from the golf course and the poker table he has a business empire to run. "I have lots of businesses in Russia," he tells me. "Mainly real estate. That is the most successful business right now in Russia."
It seems reasonable to ask Kafelnikov, the son of a humble high-school volleyball coach, how he spends his money. I know he used to blow a great deal of it on the roulette wheel, to the point at which it was apparently becoming a problem. Poker is the only form of gambling he pursues now, but it is said that during the 1999 Australian Open he virtually took root at a roulette table in Melbourne, and reportedly lost a packet punting repeatedly on black. Remarkably, it didn't stop him adding a second Grand Slam to his 1996 French Open title, and a few months later he was anointed world No 1. He declines to tell me how he spends his money now, incidentally, admitting only to a lifestyle that is "above the ordinary".
Changing the subject, I tell him that the British think of Russians as an emotional people. Does he ever get tearful about Mother Russia? "I do," he says, and humour dances fleetingly in his eyes. "Especially after we lose 7-1 to Portugal in the World Cup qualifiers."
His reason for quitting tennis was precisely to avoid such humiliating defeat, and with it the ire of his countryfolk. Kafelnikov, it seems, needs the affection of his fellow Russians more than he ever did the affection of his fellow tennis players. In 2001 he complained vigorously that top players were not paid enough, which far from earning him the plaudits of his peers, received only contempt. "He should go buy himself some perspective," snorted Agassi.
The outburst did little to diminish his reputation among ordinary Russians, however. He still has a website immodestly called "Yevgeny Online - The Temple of the God of Tennis" and not many Russians can spot the hyperbole. To them, he is the man who donated his $137,000 prize-money after winning the 2001 Kremlin Cup to the families of those killed in a plane crash near his home town, the Black Sea resort of Sochi. He is also the man who unleashed a Russian tennis revolution.
"A lot of parents saw me when I was 20, 21, and were inspired," he tells me matter-of-factly. "They saw that I was a guy from an ordinary family, top of the tennis world. That's when parents started taking their kids to tennis courts in Russia, and that's why there is so much success right now, especially in women's tennis. They don't need to go to America [a dig, perhaps, at Maria Sharapova?]. There are excellent facilities and coaches in Russia. But there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I was able to cope with it, but it was hard. There was just me, up until [Marat] Safin came through and helped me out."
He doesn't miss playing tennis one bit, he adds, but remains a keen spectator. He had a good record against the current world No 1, Federer - played five, won three - but recognises that the wondrous Swiss has improved since then. Might he, even, be the greatest player who ever lived?
A frown. "It is hard for me to answer. He's good on all surfaces, very universal. Maybe his weakness is clay, but he can be successful there too. The best ever? At my time it was [Pete] Sampras. Nobody was better than him. Before that it was [Rod] Laver. It is hard to choose between those three. For me, it is hard to think that anyone could be better than Sampras, not even Federer."
And what of himself? Just how good was this self-styled God of Tennis? "I believe I was able to take the maximum out of my ability," he says. "If you asked me when I started, would I win a Grand Slam, I would say no. But I won 26 singles titles, two Slams, Olympic gold. I have my gold medal on the wall of my home, in the most exposed place where everyone can see it. But all my wins are as important as each other. It is that number, 26, that is the most special to me."
He does not, he says, have any plans to use his experience to coach others. "I do not have the patience." And yet he has the patience to play poker, albeit in a singularly aggressive style? "Yes. I find it very exciting. Because you win not with the cards but with your skills. With body language you can win a game, but also you can lose a game."
Interestingly enough, many of the world's top poker players have sporting backgrounds. Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, perhaps the greatest poker player ever, was a basketball prodigy whose career was ended by a knee injury. Another leading player, T J Cloutier, played pro football. At a less exalted level, snooker stars Steve Davis and Mark Williams are both highly competent poker players.
"I think it's to do with nerve," says my poker-loving friend. "Sportsmen know how to keep calm under pressure, they're focused, observant, disciplined and they have a powerful winning psyche." All of which clearly applies to Kafelnikov, in spades.
Nna, gondoltam ezt a cikket bemásolom, úgyis régen volt már itt hozzászólás:
Yevgeny talking retirement
Yevgeny Kafelnikov hinted at imminent retirement - this time for good - on Thursday after the former Kremlin Cup champion was knocked out in the second round of the annual Moscow tournament. The Kemlin Cup is LIVE NOW on eurosport.com and Eurosport TV!
DRAW: All the results from the ATP Kremlin Cup
Serena in tears at RG
The 29-year-old Russian gave no firm answer if he was quitting at the end of the year but sounded as if he had already made up his mind about his future.
"You will get that answer just by looking at entry sheets at various tournaments next year," Kafelnikov told reporters following a 6-4 2-6 6-4 loss to Sargis Sargsian.
"If my name is absent from the list than you know I am done as a player."
Kafelnikov had said on numerous occasions last year that he would quit tennis if he could lead Russia to their first Davis Cup title only to change his mind a couple of months later.
But the former French and Australian Open champion had a largely disappointing season this year by his own standards, winning 28 and losing 23 matches.
He reached just one final at the Milan Indoors in February, losing to Dutchman Martin Verkerk.
Earlier this year, Kafelnikov again said that he would retire if he won the Kremlin Cup a record sixth time.
HIGH NOTE
"Of course, I would like to go out on a high note and winning here in Moscow in front of the home crowd would certainly make me happy at last," he said at the time.
Kafelnikov won the tournament five years in a row from 1997 to 2001.
Compatriot Marat Safin told reporters on Wednesday that Kafelnikov had promised him that he would help the Russians in their Davis Cup first round World Group tie against Belarus in February.
But Kafelnikov quickly dismissed such rumours by saying: "No, I'm not playing any Davis Cup matches next year."
The Sochi native also said that he would not defend his Olympic title next year in Athens, planning to go out undefeated.
"I would like to go down in Olympic history as the only player who won six matches and lost none," said Kafelnikov, who became the first Russian to win an Olympic gold medal in tennis when he triumphed at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Russian Davis Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev has also encouraged Kafelnikov to carry on playing.
"I keep saying to him that he can still do well on the Tour at least for a couple more years," Tarpishchev said this week.
"And he can certainly play top level doubles for as long as he wants it. We all want him to continue, but of course, the final decision is up to him."
However, a senior Kremlin Cup official told Reuters that Kafelnikov would stop playing at the end of the year.
"I think Yevgeny has made up his mind already, but he just likes to keep fans and media guessing, he likes playing games with people," said the source, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Hát azt mondom, hogy ha ennél többre nem képes, akkor tényleg nincs sok értelme folytatni. Tőle nem számít eredménynek, ha sikerül akár a 30-ban végezni év végén. Szóval döntse el, akar-e még játszani, mert ha igazán akarna, akkor szerintem lehetne még pár jó éve. Ha viszont nincs már mi motiválja, akkor a leghelyesebb ha abbahagyja.
Hát igen, az Agassi elleni mérlege amúgy is elég gyenge, és most elvileg még gyenge formában is volt. Bár ez gyakorlatilag szerintem sem látszott rajta, némi szerencsével sokkal jobban megszoríthatta volna az amerikait. Kíváncsi vagyok hol folytatja az elkövetkező hetekben, a moszkvai tornát nagyon megakarja nyerni. Állítólag ha sikerül neki vissza is vonul. Hát majd meglátjuk...
Hát egen, nem igazán volt kedvem beírni az eredményeket, mert nem nagyon voltak. Az egyetlen pozitívum hogy legalább nem az első fordulókban esik ki....Most ráadásul egy sérülés is jött Coria ellen, szóval nem túl derűs a helyzet.
Huhh, már jó rég nem írt ide senki, itt épp az ideje. Én is csak egy győzelemre vártam.:-)
Sajna az elbukott RG páros döntő után még 2 egyes vereség jött fövön. A cikibb az első volt, igaz Kucera jó játékos de épp a Hallei tornán egyből kiesni...
Aztán Wimbiben is sikerült egy jó nehéz első körös ellenfelet kifogni Sluiter személyében, és döntő szettben sajna vereség is lett a vége. Azóta a múlt héten indult Stuttgartban, de csak párosban Ulyettel. A döntőben kaptak ki a régi ismerős Pala/Vizner duótól.
Amúgy a páros ranglistán a 12.-ek Haarhuissal, a páros-egyéniben meg a 14. helyen áll.
Na és akkor az egyes győzelem Indianapolisban jött össze, mondjuk nem egy nagy név, Tipsarevic ellen. Az első szett aránylag szoros lett, 7-5-re sikerült hozni, aztán a 2. már egy sima 6-3. Holnap Kiefer következik, akinek elég kérdéses a formája. Halleban mondjuk jól szerepelt, de azon kívül nincs nagyon értékelhető eredmény az utóbbi időben. A HtH is aránylag kedvező, 8-5 ide.
Ezt el is felejtettem beírni. Etliséket 2-6, 6-4, 6-1-re sikerült megverni, és az elődöntőn tegnap sikerült túljutni:
Kafelnikov - Haarhuis through to French Open final
Defending doubles champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Paul Haarhuis advanced to their second straight French Open final on Thursday. The Russian and the Dutchman, seeded No11, outclassed Australian No10 seeds Paul Hanley and Wayne Arthurs 6-4 6-4. Kafelnikov and Haarhuis will now meet the American Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob, who dismantled Indian Leander Paes and Czech David Rikl 6-4 6-3.
Szóval jönnek a Bryan ikrek, nem lesz könnyű a címvédés.
Na szóval. Malisset és Vliegent 7-6(4),6-0-al sikerült hazavágni, a 6. kiemelt Llodra/Santoro duót pedig 7-6(2),6-7(9),6-4-re megverni. A negyeddöntő beli ellenfél a 16. kiemelt Etlis/Rodrigez páros lesz.
A rossz híreket soha nincs kedvem beírni. Sajnos Saretta ellen Kafi ütött hihetetlen sok hibát, ráadásul a nyerő ütéseiből sem volt sok. Viszont a 4. szett elején breakhátrányból jött vissza, aztán jött a simán megnyert tiebreak, tehát a döntő szettet elég nagy lélektani előnnyel kezdhette. Ehhez még hozzá jött a nagyobb rutin...ezek ellenére sikerül veszítenie.
Szóval rohadt csalódott vagyok, még ha a brazil valószínűleg jó formában is volt(simán verte a következő körben Blancot). Egy itteni jó eredmény igazi visszatérést jelentett volna. Hát, majd meglátjuk mit csinál füvön, hamarosan itt van Wimbledon.
Kafelnikov-Saretta 4-6,6-3,0-6,7-6(0),4-6
A páros amúgy még aktuális, természetesen a tavalyi párjával, Haarhuissal. 11. kiemeltek, és eddig 1 gamet veszítettek. Igaz nyerni nem nyertek egyet sem.:-) A Ferrer/A. Martin páros ugyanis 1-0-ás vezetésnél feladta ellenük a játékot. Ma játszanak Malisse és Vliegen ellen.
Jaj, ide el is felejtettem beírni az eredményt! Kafi-Boutter 6-1,6-2,6-4:-)))
Mondjuk ebből a meccsből nem lehet sokat leszűrni, mert a francia ontotta a kinemkényszerített hibákat. Kafi a 3. szettig viszont alig ütött párat. Ott aztán kicsit kiengedett, de összességében magabiztos győzelem volt. A nyerő ütések száma volt elég alacsony, de az valszeg az ellenfél sok hibájának is köszönhető.
A következő ellenfél Saretta lesz, aki szintén simán verte A. Martint. Corretja kiesésének köszönhetően pedig azt követően sem jöhet túl neves ellenfél, bár Puerta de főleg Blanco veszélyes lehet.
Na megvan az RG sorsolás. Hááát, nem tudok neki igazán örülni. Az eleje még talán rendben is van, Boutter, majd A. Martin/Saretta. Mondjuk mind salakos, de azért nem a verhetetlen fajtából. Aztán viszont jöhet Corretja, aki ugyan nincs formában az utóbbi időben, de állítólag már kezd feljavulni. Ha sikerül rajta is túljutni, akkor már Agassi jön, ami tényleg nem sok jóval kecsegtet.
Szóval bőven lehetne jobb is, de majd meglátjuk ki milyen formában van. Az első két fordulón simán kéne átmenni, aztán jöhetnek a kemény meccsek.
Az elmúlt 2 heti szereplésének köszönhetően sikerült végre visszakerülni a top20-ba a hagyományos ranglistán. Remélhetőleg év végére a top10 is meglesz.
A Champions Raceben pedig a 12. helyre sikerült feljönni, és csak 30 pontra van pl. Hewittól. Az élmezőnytől mondjuk itt elég nagy a lemaradás, de ezt egy jó RG szereplés orvosolhatja.
Majd fog. Itt a meccs utáni nyilatkozata, és én is így érzek teljesen:
“I would say yes, the fact that I lost in a semifinal in a Masters Series event, having served for the match at 6-5 in the second set, yeah, it is frustrating factor. But I'm not disappointed at all with the way I played. That's good progress for me in the right direction.”
Sajna a döntő nem lett meg.:-((( 6-3,6-7,4-6-ra Mantilla nyert. Pedig a 2. szettben 6-5-nél adogathatott Kafi a meccsért, de attól kezdve már nem sok esélye volt. A döntő szettben 2-5-ről sikerült 1 breakhátrányt ledolgozni, de másodszorra már kiszerválta a meccset a spanyol.
Azért asszem nem lehetünk elégedetlenek, van ugyan még mit visszahoznia a formájából, de a jó úton van hozzá hogy úgy játsszon mint amit megszokhattunk tőle.
