DOB: 27.01.1980 Nationality: Russian World Ranking: 3 Australian Open record:  2002 :: final 2001 :: fourth round 2000 :: first round 1999 :: third round 1998 :: n/a 1997 :: n/a

After early losses for several leading names last year, Safin became the big draw for most of the two weeks of the Australian Open.

The Russian moved smoothly into the final, and attracted plenty of interest off the court for the photogenic company he kept.

But a low-key performance on his way to a surprise defeat against Thomas Johansson in the final highlighted Safin's lack of consistency.

And, after reaching the French Open semi-finals, the Russian's season fell away.

A recovery in the final weeks of the season saw him beat Lleyton Hewitt in the Paris Masters for his only title of the year.