Russian tennis player Marat Safin has revealed that he may retire from the sport. The announcement came following a disappointing exit in just the first round of the Paris Masters.

The defeat was the latest in a series of shocking results for the tennis player, who is only 28 years of age. Juan Monaco beat the former world number one 6-0, 7-6 (7-4).

Safin has previously won the US Open and the Australian Open but has not won a title since 2005. He is ranked 31st in the world, but earlier this year he slipped as low as 90th.

The player’s confidence has been knocked by disappointing results against players including Igor Kunitsyn, who beat Safin in Moscow earlier this month.

The Russian tennis player has now expressed his desire to “sit down and relax” and attempt to live a life without “any tennis” for at least a few months.

After this break, Safin will reconsider his position but it is possible that he will never return to the sport which has brought him so much happiness.

Safin was keen to point out that he is under no pressure to make any immediate decision, since he has nothing “to prove or show” to anyone. He spoke of injuries which have blighted his career and left him “struggling” to find any kind of form.

However, physical problems have been joined by psychological problems. The Russian has revealed the “uncomfortable position” of finding himself ranked “70 and 30 and 50” when he used to dominate the top places.

Australian-born tennis prodigy, Laura Robson, has lost her debut World Tennis Association (WTA) tour match. She was defeated by her tough Czech opponent, Iveta Benesova.

The 14-year-old was beaten 6-1, 2-6, 3-6, and will now return to the junior circuit in preparation for the Australian Open in 2009.

The Wimbledon Girls Champion moved to England when she was just six years old but has only recently acquired British citizenship. In September, she became the youngest Brit in history to receive an invitation to enter the full, senior tennis circuit and has attended high-profile tournaments in both the UK and mainland Europe. Robson is currently ranked 554th in the world but she has already beaten senior players in the top 160.

Unfortunately, the WTA imposes strict regulations on young players. The youngster may find herself jumping back and forth between junior and senior tournaments until the powers that be are sure she can handle the pressures of the professional tennis circuit on her own.

Robson’s next tournament will take her to the United States where she will be hopeful of resurrecting her junior doubles career. Following her match against Benesova, Robson paired up with Gisela Dulko in her first senior doubles match against Vera Dushevina and Mariya Koryttseva. The Eastern European pair eventually won 6-2 6-3.

Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, and Britain’s Annabel Croft, all began their senior tennis careers at a very young age, and whilst Hingis and Capriati rose to the higher echelons of superstardom, Annabel Croft grew so tired of the senior circuit that she retired at the age of 21. At the tender age of 14, Laura Robson still has a long and difficult road ahead of her.

This weekend saw an impressive Andy Murray become the first British male in over 30 years to win two tournaments back-to-back in successive weeks.

His latest victory came in the St. Petersburg Open. The Brit was the top seed at the event and his emphatic triumph over Andrey Golubev, the best tennis player in Kazakhstan and world number 150, brought him his fifth tournament title of the tennis season so far. This statistic is also a record-breaking one for a British male.

Murray lost just two games in the entire match against Golubev, winning 6-1, 6-1. Perhaps more impressively, the Brit went through the entire tournament without losing a set.

Some sports pundits have argued that Murray’s latest success is nothing to shout about, given the general quality of the draw and the opponent encountered in the final. However, whilst it may not be as impressive as beating Federer on his way to collecting a Masters title in Spain, Murray’s success this weekend was extremely important.

It has proved that he can maintain consistency and hold his nerve whilst being perceived as the overwhelming favourite in a tournament. Critics of the young British tennis player should also remember that Golubev managed to beat Marat Safin, legend in the world of tennis, on the way to the final.

Andy Murray will now travel to Paris to try to win yet another Masters Series tournament. Paris will probably provide more of a challenge for the Brit and he is set to come up against either Marcos Baghdatis or Sam Querrey. Furthermore, if he makes it to the quarter-final, he may have to compete against the impressive Argentinean player, Juan Martin del Potro.

Roger Federer, the world’s second best tennis player, has become the all-time leader in career prize money following a spate of good results in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) circuit in Madrid. His second round victory over Czech player, Radek Štěpánek, saw his total earnings rise to $43,288,519 USD, beating Pete Sampras’ previous record of $43,280,489.

The 27-year-old is said to be elated with the new record but he remains modest about his substantial fortune: "It's not very special. Sure, money is important in life but it's not everything." Federer has now earned almost twice as much as his closest rival, Rafael Nadal, and is only one Grand Slam victory away from equalling Pete Sampras’ career record of 14.

Pete Sampras retired in 2002 as one of the most successful male tennis players in history. He held the number one spot in the world rankings for six consecutive years and ended his career with a convincing victory over his bitter rival, Andre Agassi.

Federer was seeded second in the recent Madrid Masters tournament but was defeated in the semi-final by the eventual winner, Andy Murray. Rafael Nadal also lost out on a thirteenth Masters Series trophy after losing to Frenchman, Gilles Simon, in the semi-final.

The competition moves to Paris on the 27th of October and then to Shanghai for the final ATP Masters Series tournament of the year on the 11th of November.

Federer was rewarded with $20,100 for his efforts at the Madrid Masters tournament, bringing his total earnings for 2008 up to $4,561,341. World number one, Rafael Nadal, has earned an impressive $6,583,074 to date.

Andy Murray, who won his second Masters Series title on Sunday in Madrid, has insisted that he is still a long way away from equalling the achievements of fellow Brit, Tim Henman. The 21-year-old Scot believes that Henman, during his playing days, was “much, much better” than him.

Murray made these proclamations despite becoming the first British player to win two Masters Series titles, following an impressive victory over Gilles Simon. Although Simon was clearly exhausted following his victory over Rafael Nadal on Saturday, the Brit showed impressive form to clinch the title.

In the past, Murray has been accused by members of the British press of being arrogant, so these latest comments from him have surprised some. Indeed, he played down his success as simply “a little bit of history” but did concede that he had achieved something that Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski had failed to attain during their respective careers.

Whilst it is true that Murray has only passed the semi-final stage of a Grand Slam once during his short career (whereas Henman competed in the semi-finals of all the Grand Slams apart from the Australian Open), he has had a truly impressive year.

He is currently ranked fourth in the world and, earlier this year, managed to reach the final of the US Open, where he was unfortunate to come up against an in-form Roger Federer with a point to prove.

Murray also impressed at Wimbledon, reaching the quarter-final for the first time. Despite this, Murray still believes that it will be some time before he is able to make Wimbledon his home, in the way that Tim Henman managed to do for so many years prior to his retirement in 2007.

However, although Murray’s comments that Henman always managed to play well at Wimbledon may ring true in the ears of the ex-player’s ardent fans, most people will associate Henman’s time at the competition with unfulfilled potential.

The young Scot is certainly more of an exciting prospect on and off the court and whilst some may not like his combative style, others are simply grateful for this breath of fresh air in British tennis.

This year has seen Murray reign victorious over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer and the player believes that his new “coaching set-up” is one of the main reasons behind his success. He was criticised in 2007 for replacing his old coach, Brad Gilbert, with a handpicked team of coaches and trainers.

However, Murray has praised the new “structured” approach that has resulted from this radical change, with more practice time and a heavier reliance upon the gym improving his game and making him “much more comfortable on the court, much more relaxed”.

The young star is due in St. Petersburg later this week to attempt to defend the title he won in 2007 and his first match will see him compete against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki. Murray’s year will end with the Paris Masters and a trip to Shanghai for the Masters Cup and there is a growing belief that it will not be long before he wins his first Grand Slam.

The LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) has announced that it has struck a deal worth around £30 million over five years with life assurance giant AEGON. The arrangement will allow the LTA to pump funds into the advancement of both grassroots and professional tennis, with the Scottish company expected to become the principal sponsor of both the Artois Championship and the Davis Cup.

Although the identity of the investor was kept under wraps until Tuesday, the finger of speculation had been firmly pointed at AEGON for some time. Roger Draper, the chief executive of the LTA, expressed that both parties were delighted with the deal, saying: “We share a joint desire to grow the sport at all levels from supporting elite young players to improving facilities and access across the country.”

AEGON wants the LTA to entertain a close working relationship that allows the former a supervisory role over British tennis.

The popular grass-court events at Eastbourne and Edgbaston have both been renamed to accommodate AEGON’s ego, becoming the ‘AEGON International’ and the unpronounceable ‘AEGONAEGON Classic’ respectively.

The company also sponsors the vast majority of community and school programmes, and while this move may foster a new sense of homogeneity throughout British tennis, there is no escaping the fact that the events have become billboards for the LTA’s new sugar daddy. There are a total of fifteen events, schemes, and ranking boards that have been renamed over the past few days.

Despite a few drawbacks, AEGON appear to be a wholly benevolent entity. Their insistence on being involved in the development of British tennis is an admirable assertion and one which ensures that the time they spend with the LTA is as productive as possible.

It will come as no great surprise to tennis aficionados that the deal was made public only a week after Andy Murray’s near-success at the US Open. The sport has enjoyed something of a revival recently, and the vast majority of the British media has accused the LTA of riding bareback on Murray’s coattails. However, it seems unlikely that a company that once entertained forty-four different sponsors would put all their eggs into one big basket.

British tennis needs a shakeup. Andy Murray honed his skills in Spain with the likes of Carlos Moyà, Rafael Nadal, and Emilio Sánchez after becoming bored of playing against his older brother. Tennis facilities are few and far between in British schools, and so the rise of 14 year old tennis prodigy Laura Robson is nothing short of miraculous.

Roger Draper has been interested in securing a commercial cash cow ever since his was appointed chief executive back in April 2006 in order to combat the increasing rift between young starlets and professional players. He expressed distaste at being forced to rely on handouts and grants, and so his new found friendship with AEGON can only come as a good thing.

AEGON’s current assets total over £250 billion. An investment of 30 million may seem like small change to such a massive corporation, but to the LTA it represents a golden opportunity to reach out to young starlets, to train new coaches and to give everybody the chance to experience British tennis.

Written by Chris Illingworth