A succession of injuries hindered Safin's progress throughout his career.

In 2003, he missed the majority of the season due to a wrist injury.

During the 2005 clay-court season, Safin suffered a knee injury, which he played through all the way up to Wimbledon with the help of pain killers and anti-inflammatories.
Safin was subsequently defeated in the early rounds of each of the seven tournaments he played between the Australian Open and the French Open, culminating in an early round defeat at the French Open.
Safin made a surprise finals appearance at the Wimbledon tune-up tournament in Halle on grass.
He lost the final narrowly to the defending champion, Federer.
 He only played one tournament in the summer hard-court season, in Cincinnati, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Robby Ginepri.
He also missed the Tennis Masters Cup.

Injuries continued to bother Safin in 2006.
Although Safin made appearances at the 2006 ATP Masters tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg, his ranking plummeted to as low as No.
104.
He began to recover in time for the 2006 US Open, in which Safin defeated No.
4 David Nalbandian in a riveting second-round match.
Safin then lost in the fourth round to No.
16 Tommy Haas, also in a fifth-set tiebreaker.
Positive performances at the Thailand Open, where he was narrowly edged out by No.
7 seed, James Blake, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the first all-Russian final at that event, losing to compatriot, Ukrainian-born Nikolay Davydenko, marked Safin's recovery.
Despite the injury, Safin still posted seven wins against top ten players in 2006, fourth-most on the ATP tour behind just Federer (19), Nadal (10), and Blake (8).
A succession of injuries hindered Safin's progress throughout his career.
In 2003, he missed the majority of the season due to a wrist injury.
During the 2005 clay-court season, Safin suffered a knee injury, which he played through all the way up to Wimbledon with the help of pain killers and anti-inflammatories. Safin was subsequently defeated in the early rounds of each of the seven tournaments he played between the Australian Open and the French Open, culminating in an early round defeat at the French Open. Safin made a surprise finals appearance at the Wimbledon tune-up tournament in Halle on grass. He lost the final narrowly to the defending champion, Federer.  He only played one tournament in the summer hard-court season, in Cincinnati, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Robby Ginepri. He also missed the Tennis Masters Cup.
Injuries continued to bother Safin in 2006. Although Safin made appearances at the 2006 ATP Masters tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg, his ranking plummeted to as low as No. 104. He began to recover in time for the 2006 US Open, in which Safin defeated No. 4 David Nalbandian in a riveting second-round match. Safin then lost in the fourth round to No. 16 Tommy Haas, also in a fifth-set tiebreaker. Positive performances at the Thailand Open, where he was narrowly edged out by No. 7 seed, James Blake, and the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the first all-Russian final at that event, losing to compatriot, Ukrainian-born Nikolay Davydenko, marked Safin's recovery. Despite the injury, Safin still posted seven wins against top ten players in 2006, fourth-most on the ATP tour behind just Federer (19), Nadal (10), and Blake (8).
Marat Safin