The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Safin loses cool and contest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Safin loses cool and contest

KEY BISCAYNE, MARCH 28. Marat Safin threw, kicked and cursed his racket but couldn't make it behave and went on to lose 7-6(6), 6-1 to Dominik Hrbaty in the third round of the Nasdaq-100 Open on Sunday.

The combustible Safin, ranked fourth, became progressively more discouraged as the match progressed and made no effort to reach the Slovakian's final shot — an ace down the middle.

``It's difficult to deal with the situation when you are playing bad and you are losing,'' Safin said. ``When I'm playing bad, I'm playing really bad. There's nothing I can do. My serve doesn't work. The backhand doesn't go the way it should be. And, of course, the forehand struggles. With this kind of game, it's difficult to beat anybody.''

Safin committed 33 unforced errors and hit just 11 winners. He's the only player to beat Roger Federer in the past seven months, but since earning his second Grand Slam title in January, Safin has played three tournaments and failed to put together back-to-back victories at any of them.

``Normally this month I never play well,'' Safin said. ``So, for me, it's nothing new.''

However, late March usually brings out the best in three-time defending champion Serena Williams who needed 90 minutes to beat the 17-year-old Israeli qualifier Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3. The scrappy Peer delighted the stadium crowd by repeatedly chasing down shots.

``She was really gutsy,'' said Serena, seeded third. ``I wasn't used to playing a person like that. It was a totally different game for me. She gets a lot of balls back, and she doesn't hit with a lot of pace.''

On another humid afternoon, the top women were impressive. The top seed Amelie Mauresmo, No. 2 Maria Sharapova, No. 8 Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne all won in straight sets.

In the men's section, 13th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic edged out American Vince Spadea 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3).

Bhupathi-Woodbridge progress

Mahesh Bhupathi and Todd Woodbridge of Australia moved into the second round, while Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic Serbia made a first round exit in the doubles event.

Fifth-seeded Bhupathi and his Australian partner defeated Jiri Novak and David Rikl of the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 6-2 in the opening round. Paes and Zimonjic, the seventh seeds, lost after a tough three-set battle against Jose Acasuso of Argentina and Nicholas Lapentti of Ecuador. They went down 6-7(7), 7-6(8) 3-6.

The results (third round): Men: Ivan Ljubicic bt Vince Spadea 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3); Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-3; Dominik Hrbaty bt Marat Safin 7-6(6), 6-1; Gael Monfils bt Lee Hyung-taik 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1); Rafael Nadal bt Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2; Thomas Johansson bt Carlos Moya 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2.

Women: Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3, 6-2; Karolina Sprem bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-2, 6-2; Tatiana Golovin bt Elena Bovina 6-3, 7-6(4); Shinobu Asagoe bt Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-3; Catalina Castano bt Patty Schnyder 6-3, 2-6, 6-1; Alicia Molik bt Gisela Dulko 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Ana Ivanovic bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 7-6(4); Elena Likhovtseva bt Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Dally Randriantefy 6-1, 6-3; Amelie Mauresmo bt Anna Smashnova 6-2, 6-1; Elena Dementieva bt Magdalena Maleeva 6-3, 6-4; Maria Sharapova bt Marissa Irvin 6-2, 6-0; Kim Clijsters bt Nathalie Dechy 6-0, 6-2; Serena Williams bt Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3. — AP

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