Marat Safin loses match, gets a hug...

Four years ago, Russian tennis stud Marat Safin beat Roger Federer in a grueling five-set match in the semifinals of the Australian Open and went on to win the tournament.

That was theh.

Earlier today, Federer - the world's second-ranked player trying to win his fourth Aussie Open - beat Safin in straight sets in their third round match. It seems that Safin needed a hug after the loss and since I wasn't around, he got one from Federer.

UPODATE: It seems that there was more behind the hug. Safin has announced that this is his last year on the tennis tour and said the player he'll miss most is Federer.

"We've known each other since '94," Safin said. "We had some great matches. We grew up together. I respect him as a tennis player, as a person. Let's put it this way: He's a very close colleague of mine."

Safin was known to be quite erratic. He could be brilliant - as he was in the 2000 US Open final when he blitzed Pete Sampras in straight sets to win the title. He was also ranked number one in the world for a time. But he also had many, many bad stretches that were baffliing because he is one of the most talented players in the game.