Marat Safin — tennis (#1 world) with roots in the USSR
Marat Safin is a Russian professional tennis player born in Moscow who reached World No. 1 and won two Grand Slam titles — the US Open (2000) and the Australian Open (2005). Known for his extraordinary talent and equally extraordinary emotional volatility, he was one of the most compelling figures in tennis history.
Tracing the roots — Moscow
Born in Moscow in 1980 to Mikhail Safin and Rausa Islanova — his mother a former top Soviet junior tennis player and later director of the Spartak Tennis Club — Safin grew up steeped in the Soviet and Russian tennis tradition. His sister Dinara also reached World No. 1, making them the only brother-sister pair both to hold the top ranking in tennis history.
Moscow. At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.