Marat Safin & Yevgeny Kafelnikov Honored with Hall of Fame Rings at Kremlin Cup

Russian tennis legends Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the only two Russians to have been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame to date, were honored at the Kremlin Cup in a special ceremony to present their Hall of Fame rings. 

Fellow Hall of Famer Jan Kodes of the Czech Republic traveled to Moscow to present the rings. In addition, many Russian players joined in the celebration on court, which kicked off the 30th Anniversary of the tournament, a combined ATP Tour and WTA Tour event. 

Addressing the hometown crowd, Kafelnikov stated, "I would like to thank you all for celebrating with us. Together with Marat, I can say we would never have had the careers we had without your support. Indeed the International Tennis Hall of Fame is the ultimate top honor in tennis. Without the fans like you all, we wouldn't be there. We are very proud of becoming Tennis Hall of Famers and we are very proud to share this with you."

Kafelnikov was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame earlier this year, alongside fellow Class of 2019 inductees Mary Pierce and Li Na. In 1996, he became Russia's first major singles champion, when he won the Roland-Garros trophy. He also won the doubles title that year, and went on to win the singles title at the Australian Open in 1999, and three more doubles majors. Kafelnikov was ranked world No. 1, and he represented Russia with great commitment, winning an Olympic Gold Medal and as a part of the nation's first Davis Cup championship team. 

His Davis Cup teammate Marat Safin also achieved the world No. 1 ranking, and was a singles champion at the US Open and the Australian Open. He was a member of two championship teams. In recognition of his remarkable tennis career, Safin was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ahead of the ring ceremony, Safin stated, "I think, for us, tennis players, being inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame is a cherry on the cake! Because not everybody reaches the top. We worked hard for many years. It is a great completion of a career - to go down in history. A nice surprise to be recognized not only in Russia, but around the world, too."

Kafelnikov echoed, "Marat said it very well. This is a universal worldwide recognition, including that of the entire global tennis community, and looking at all our merits and results. This is the most necessary element in our life at the end of our sports career. Our names are immortalized in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It is very prestigious and very important for both of us."

The Hall of Fame rings are one-of-a-kind pieces symbolizing a Hall of Famer's recognition as being among the best of the best in the history of the sport. They are not presented during their induction ceremony in Newport, rather they are presented at a later date and location of special significance to the Hall of Famer and their fans.

Safin stated," This is a beautiful ring. It's a huge honor, and especially to receive it in Russia in front of our crowd. It means a lot."

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