Safin motivated to win Davis Cup after sub-par year

MOSCOW, Sep 19 (Reuters) Marat Safin, struggling to regain his top form following a spate of injuries, says he has an added motivation to win the Davis Cup for Russia this year.

''It (Davis Cup) is my only hope this year,'' the big-hitting Russian told Reuters today ahead of this week's Davis Cup semi-final against the United States in Moscow.

''Everyone knows that I had a bad year. I haven't won a title the whole year, only made two semis and reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open,'' said Safin, who returned to the tour in February after six months out with a left knee injury.

''Just a few weeks ago I was ranked as low as 104. That's pretty bad. So I'm really looking forward to playing the Davis Cup. If we beat the Americans here, then we'll probably play the final in Moscow, so it should give us a great chance to win.'' Safin, who powered Russia to their first Davis Cup title in 2002, said he always enjoyed playing for his country.

''We have a really strong team,'' the former world number one said, pointing at his team mates, Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov. ''With the team we have right now we should be pretty confident that we can beat any team out there.'' BIGGEST GOAL ''We only have a few more tournaments left, so Davis Cup is my biggest goal for the remainder of this year.

''If I finish the year on a positive note it would give me extra motivation and confidence for the start of the new season.

''Then I can look forward to the Australian Open. I always liked to play there,'' said the 2005 Australian Open champion, who could not defend his title this year because of the injury.

Safin said he planned to play for another four years before hanging up his racket.

''I think I'll play four more years. That's it,'' said the 26-year-old. ''I don't think running around the court with a tennis racket at 30 years old is something I would like.

''I've already played for eight years, so that would make it 12.

I think that's enough. Of course, then if I still feel like playing, I'd continue but right now I think that would be it. I hope to turn my attention to something else then..

''So I'm going to give it my all in the next four years to try to win a few more titles. My dream would be to win the Davis Cup title again in four years time, then retire happy.'' REUTERS DH PM2055