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Safin’s agony continues

Mardy Fish flounders against Arnaud Clement

— Photo: AP

PRIZE CATCH: France’s Arnaud Clement ended Mardy Fish’s stay at the Sony Ericsson Open with a straight-set win on Thursday.

KEY BISCAYNE: Struggling Marat Safin hit another low when he lost to American qualifier Bobby Reynolds 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5) in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.

Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, fell to 1-5 in 2008.

He hasn’t won a title since the 2005 Australian Open, and his ranking has fallen from 56th to 90th since the start of the year.

The latest loss came even though Safin lost serve only once. He led 3-1 in the final tie-breaker, but had five unforced errors in the last eight points. Safin finished with 46 unforced errors, 12 more than Reynolds.

Reynolds, ranked 104th, snapped a four-match losing streak.

Also eliminated was Mardy Fish, who beat Roger Federer en route to a runner-up finish last week at the Pacific Life Open. Arnaud Clement caught Fish on the rebound and won 6-3, 6-3.

France’s Michael Llodra, one of five players with two ATP titles this year, was beaten by Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

Buenos Aires runner-up Jose Acasuso beat Santiago Ventura of Spain 6-4, 6-3 and faces a second match this year with Lleyton Hewitt.

The results: Men: First round: Julien Benneteau bt Rainer Schuettler 1-6, 6-1, 6-2; Ivo Minar bt Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-2; Jurgen Melzer bt Michel Llodra 7-6(6), 7-6(5); Ernests Gulbis bt Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Bobby Reynolds bt Marat Safin 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5); Jose Acasuso bt Santiago Ventura 6-2, 6-4; Arnaud Clement bt Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-3; Mario Ancic bt Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3; Robin Soderling bt Stefan Koubek 6-0, 6-1; Thomas Johansson bt Igor Kunitsyn 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; Ryan Sweeting bt Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-2; Gael Monfils bt John Isner 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3.

Women: First round: Lucie Safarova bt Sorana Cristea 6-1, 7-5; Ai Sugiyama bt Anastasia Pivovarova 6-3, 7-6(2); Alisa Kleybanova bt Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2; Tathiana Garbin bt Melanie Oudin 7-5, 2-6, 6-1; Emilie Loit bt Virginia Ruano-Pascual 7-6(1), 6-4; Camille Pin bt Olga Savchuk 6-1, 7-5; Dminika Cibulkova bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 6-2; Peng Shuai bt Elena Daniilidou 1-1 retd.; Caroline Wozniak bt Aravane Rezai 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies

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