by Richard Evans, FOXSports.com

Paris Masters

The game's best were in Paris last week to tune up for the ATP finals, and Richard Evans had it all covered. Recap all the best stories. Latest from Evans: Djokovic fights through for Paris win After loss, Federer turns focus to London Safin finally at peace as career ends More: PHOTOS: Action from Paris Masters

After an emotional on-court ceremony that saw the big Russian, who had won this tournament three times in the past, receive hugs and handshakes from a whole host of his former rivals, including retired players like Marc Rosset, Albert Costa and Younes El Aynaoui, Safin revealed a little of what it is like to be a professional tennis player in this demanding age.

"It's a tough sport," he said. "It's very cruel. What I'll miss least is the injuries and the pressure. The pressure is what you are going through all these years. Because you are defending your points. You need to achieve, you need to improve, you need to count the points to see if you are going to make the Masters, if you're going to be seeded at a Grand Slam or not. So you're completely stressed 24/7. That is what I hate about it. It's just too much. No rest for the brain at all."

Safin then pointed out what many people miss about the difference in the life of a tennis player and those in other professional sports like baseball, basketball and soccer.

Plenty of friends were on hand to bid farewell to Marat Safin. (JACQUES DEMARTHON / Getty Images)

"In a different sport, you sign a contract and no matter how you play, if you play decent, you make your money. Here, it's all up to this exact moment. Once you are top 10 and then you can drop to 150. It's difficult to come back. So it's a very tough living."

In other words, if a tennis player doesn't show up, play and win, he gets nothing — unlike a reserve goalkeeper who can sit on the bench all season and watch the money roll in.

Safin was also quick to note how much men's pro tennis has improved since he started 10 years ago.

"Basically, it was one sport and now it's a completely different sport," he said. "The guys, they improve so much. They are much faster, much stronger. They know how to volley, how to return. They serve each time over 200 kilometers an hour. When I started, if someone served 205 this is, like, wow, this is something outside this world. Now everybody returns these serves. Everybody knows what to do on court and have much more weapons than at the beginning of my career."

Safin admitted that missing out on reaching the 2002 French Open final when Juan Carlos Ferrero beat him in the semifinals and his poor performance in the Australian Open final earlier that year — a tournament he eventually won — against Thomas Johansson were the two big regrets of his career.

He was criticized for that effort in Melbourne because he had a bevy of blondes in his box and did not seem to be taking the occasion seriously. But Safin defended himself against charges of not working hard at his game.

"A lot of people really thought that I'm not a hard worker," he said. "But you can ask all my coaches how I dedicate myself to the tennis. They will tell you it's completely the opposite of what people think. I worked hard for it, I worked very hard."

And now?

"I will go with the flow," he said with one of his little smiles. "Now I have no schedule, no practices, no nothing. I belong to myself."

Richard Evans, who commentated at Wimbledon on BBC Radio for 20 years, has been covering tennis since the 1960's and has reported on more than 150 Grand Slams. He is the author of 15 books, including the official history of the Davis Cup and the unofficial history of the modern game in "Open Tennis." He lives in Florida but is still on the tour 20 weeks in the year.