Marat Safin voted into Russian Parliament
Former world number one Marat Safin has been voted into the Russian Federal Parliament.
The two-time Grand Slam winner, who is a member of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, has been elected into the Duma’s lower house as a representative for the Nyzhny Novgorod region.
Speaking to the ATP’s Champions Tour official website, Safin revealed that he moved into politics as he did not want to become a “celebrity”.
“I could go and make commercials left and right and pretend like I am a celebrity, but that is not me,” said the 31-year-old. “I never did this, I never liked it.
“I had a few months of thinking ‘should I do this or should I not’ but now I am pretty sure of what I’m doing and I want to do it.
“I will be working for the next five years day after day, sitting in an office, wearing a suit. I will have good days, bad days and I will have to fight once again like I’ve been fighting on the court. It will be complicated.”
Safin retired after the Paris Masters in 2009.