Safin ' s last Wimbledon ends with 1st-round loss
Marat Safin
And with a mangled racket and plenty of kicking and screaming  including a couple of arguments with the chair umpire  then a postmatch parting shot at a line judge Safin called "a little bit too blind."
 Safin used to rant about disliking tennis on grass  and he once complained about the high price and low quality of food at the players' restaurant at the All England Club. Well  he doesn't have to worry about any of that again after bowing out in his final Wimbledon with a 6-2  3-6  7-6 (4)  6-4 loss to Levine.
 After confirming this would be his last appearance at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament -- Safin has vowed to retire at season's end -- he was asked how he feels about being done with Wimbledon.
 He's a former No. 1 player who won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open  but a series of injuries slowed him recently. Still  Safin came to Wimbledon ranked 24th and seeded 14th  and had to be considered quite a favorite against Levine  who never had defeated anyone ranked better than 67th.
Safin has vowed to retire at season's end -- he was asked how he feels about being done with Wimbledon.
 He's a former No. 1 player who won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open  but a series of injuries slowed him recently. Still  Safin came to Wimbledon ranked 24th and seeded 14th  and had to be considered quite a favorite against Levine  who never had defeated anyone ranked better than 67th.
 "He's an amazing player  and I'm still kind of feeling weird right now that I just beat Safin  because I've always watched him play on TV " said Levine  who turned pro in 2007. "I just kind of went out there with nothing to lose and played some good tennis."
 Levine was a teen when Safin burst onto the scene as a brash  big-hitting 20-year-old who knocked off Sampras to win the U.S. Open.
 "I really had to ... focus on playing against the ball and not worrying about  'Oh  wow  I'm playing against Marat Safin on the other side of the court '" Levine said. "Because then things could have gotten a lot more interesting."
 As is his wont  Safin made things interesting enough. In the early going  he broke his racket by spiking it on the court.
 Leading 4-3 in the third-set tiebreaker  Safin hit a shot near a line that was ruled out. Afterward  Safin said: "Thanks for the guy who made the call. I want to say hello to him. Too bad that he was a little bit too blind."
 In the fourth set  Safin told the chair umpire he could check for chalk on the ball to confirm a call. Rebuffed  Safin added: "So all players are stupid?"
 Safin reached at least the semifinals at all four majors  including at Wimbledon last year  but he has been criticized for not living up to the potential stored in his 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) frame -- about 7 inches (18 centimeters) taller than Levine.
 "In the history of tennis  everybody's an underachiever " Safin said. "Agassi should have been winning  I don't know  15 Grand Slams. Sampras should have been winning 20 Grand Slams. Federer should be winning -- already should have 25."
 "I should probably have (won) a couple of more " he said  "but I'm pretty satisfied with what I did."
And with a mangled racket and plenty of kicking and screaming  including a couple of arguments with the chair umpire  then a postmatch parting shot at a line judge [TGT] called "a little bit too blind."
 Safin used to rant about disliking tennis on grass  and he once complained about the high price and low quality of food at the players' restaurant at the All England Club. Well  he doesn't have to worry about any of that again after bowing out in his final Wimbledon with a 6-2  3-6  7-6 (4)  6-4 loss to Levine.
 After confirming this would be his last appearance at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament -- [TGT] has vowed to retire at season's end -- he was asked how he feels about being done with Wimbledon.
 He's a former No. 1 player who won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open  but a series of injuries slowed him recently. Still  [TGT] came to Wimbledon ranked 24th and seeded 14th  and had to be considered quite a favorite against Levine  who never had defeated anyone ranked better than 67th.
[TGT] has vowed to retire at season's end -- he was asked how he feels about being done with Wimbledon.
 He's a former No. 1 player who won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open  but a series of injuries slowed him recently. Still  [TGT] came to Wimbledon ranked 24th and seeded 14th  and had to be considered quite a favorite against Levine  who never had defeated anyone ranked better than 67th.
 "He's an amazing player  and I'm still kind of feeling weird right now that I just beat Safin  because I've always watched him play on TV " said Levine  who turned pro in 2007. "I just kind of went out there with nothing to lose and played some good tennis."
 Levine was a teen when [TGT] burst onto the scene as a brash  big-hitting 20-year-old who knocked off Sampras to win the U.S. Open.
 "I really had to ... focus on playing against the ball and not worrying about  'Oh  wow  I'm playing against [TGT] on the other side of the court '" Levine said. "Because then things could have gotten a lot more interesting."
 As is his wont  [TGT] made things interesting enough. In the early going  he broke his racket by spiking it on the court.
 Leading 4-3 in the third-set tiebreaker  [TGT] hit a shot near a line that was ruled out. Afterward  [TGT] said: "Thanks for the guy who made the call. I want to say hello to [TGT]. Too bad that [TGT] was a little bit too blind."
 In the fourth set  [TGT] told the chair umpire [TGT] could check for chalk on the ball to confirm a call. Rebuffed  [TGT] added: "So all players are stupid?"
 Safin reached at least the semifinals at all four majors  including at Wimbledon last year  but [TGT] has been criticized for not living up to the potential stored in [TGT] 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) frame -- about 7 inches (18 centimeters) taller than Levine.
 "In the history of tennis  everybody's an underachiever [TGT] said. "Agassi should have been winning  I don't know  15 Grand Slams. Sampras should have been winning 20 Grand Slams. Federer should be winning -- already should have 25."
 "I should probably have (won) a couple of more " [TGT] said  "but I'm pretty satisfied with what I did."