The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Safin fights on; Roddick pulls out

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Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006

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Sport - Tennis

Safin fights on; Roddick pulls out

— PHOTO: AP

A BUMPY START: Marat Safin struggled in the first round of the Legg Mason Classic.

WASHINGTON: Struggling Marat Safin fought his way into the Legg Mason Classic's second round on Monday while another former World No. 1 and defending champion Andy Roddick withdrew due to a back injury.

Safin, ranked 92nd, defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 7-6(6). After falling behind 4-1 in the tie-breaker, Safin rallied to oust his 99th-rated Russian compatriot in the $575,000 US Open hardcourt warm-up event.

I didn't play my best tennis but I was fighting. It's kind of difficult. I'm still missing some confidence," Safin said.

Safin, who is 14-13 in 2006 and has not won back-to-back matches since April, booked a second-round match with France's Nicolas Mahut. He could face US top seed James Blake in the third round.

Sania & Huber advance

In doubles, Sania Mirza and South African partner Liezel Huber moved into the second round with a facile victory against the Canadian-Slovak pair of Maureen Drake and Tina Krizan.

Sania and Huber, who won the Bangalore Open title earlier this year, defeated their unseeded rivals 6-0, 6-4 in the first round match.

The pair next plays Russia's Anna Chakvetadze and Jill Craybas of the US.

The results (first round):

At Washington (ATP Legg Mason Classic): Wesley Moodie bt Sam Querrey 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(6); Kenneth Carlsen bt Danai Udomchoke 6-1, 6-2; Kevin Kim bt Scott Oudsema 6-1, 6-3; Denis Gremelmayr bt Wesley Whitehouse 6-2, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic bt Michael Venus 6-2, 6-1; Ryan Sweeting bt Justin Gimelstob 7-6(7), 6-2; Phillip King bt Bobby Reynolds 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3; Marat Safin bt Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 7-6(6); Andrea Stoppini bt Paul Goldstein 6-3, 6-2.

At Sopot (ATP Orange Prokom Open): Nikolay Davydenko bt Christophe Rochus 6-1, 6-2; Michal Przysiezny bt Guillermo Coria 5-6 (retd.); Lukas Dlouhy bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4, 6-2; Juan Monaco bt Juergen Melzer 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4; Gaston Gaudio bt Boris Pasanski 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4; Jiri Vanek bt Alessio Di Mauro 7-6(3), 6-0; Martin Vassallo Arguello bt Marcos Daniel 6-4, 2-0 (retd.).

At San Diego (WTA Acura Classic): Sybille Bammer bt Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1; Ana Ivanovic bt Akiko Morigami 6-2, 6-1; Flavia Pennetta bt Lisa Raymond 7-5, 6-3; Peng Shuai bt Mara Santangelo 6-1, 6-4; Samantha Stosur bt Nathalie Dechy 7-5, 6-4; Paola Suarez bt Dinara Safina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Katerina Bondarenko bt Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-2; Emma Laine bt Vania King 6-4, 6-2; Vasilisa Bardina bt Yuan Meng 6-2, 6-4; Meilen Tu bt Laura Granville 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Jamea Jackson bt Mariana Diaz Olivia 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Jelena Jankovic bt Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4; Olga Savchuk bt Hana Sromova 2-2 (retd.); Virginia Ruano Pascual bt Elena Likhovtseva 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies

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