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| August 2, 2002 | Friday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22,1423 |
Safin wins battle of champions
TORONTO, Aug 1: Second seed Marat Safin won the battle of champions when he beat title-holder Andrei Pavel 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) Wednesday to lead a parade of top seeds into the third round of the $2.95 million Canada Tennis Masters.
Joining the Russian were third seed Tommy Haas, fourth seed Tim Henman and fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
The only major casualties on another blisteringly hot day at the National Tennis Center were Australian Open champion and ninth seed Thomas Johansson, who fell 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to American Todd Martin, and 16th seed Carlos Moya of Spain.
Moya, one of the hottest players on the tour with back-to-back title wins in Bastad and Umag followed by a run to the semi-finals in Sopot last week, was beaten 7-5, 7-5 by former world number one Marcelo Rios of Chile.
Sampras, who played well in his first round win over Wayne Ferreira, appeared out of sorts as he fought to a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory over South Korea’s Hyung-Taik Lee, a qualifier ranked 94 in the world with just two Masters Series wins to his credit.
Roddick claimed a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory but lost some respect when his contest ended in an ugly shouting match and with Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador accusing the 12th seed of faking leg cramps.
Safin, who collected his first Masters Series title two years ago in Toronto, also struggled at times but never appeared in danger against Romanian Pavel.
The highest remaining seed after world number one Lleyton Hewitt crashed out in the opening round on Monday, Safin raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set.
But, as regularly happens with Safin, the big Russian lost concentration, allowing Pavel to take the next three games before regrouping and closing out the set.
In the second set it was the Romanian who took a 4-1 lead, forcing Safin to rally. The 2000 US Open champion finished off by winning the tie-break to remain unbeaten in his two visits to Toronto.
Haas, who picked up his first win since the French Open on Monday, made it two in a row with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Dutchman Sjeng Schalken.
Distracted by a near fatal motorcycle accident involving his parents in early June, Haas is once more focusing on his tennis now that his mother and father are out of danger.
With his serve and volley game working to perfection on the lightning quick Canadian courts, Henman made the hardcourt game look easy as he swept past American James Blake 6-3, 6-3 to set up a third round showdown with surprise Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.
Without a win since reaching the Wimbledon final following first round exits at Gstaad and Umag, Argentine Nalbandian continued to enjoy a strong start to the hardcourt season by advancing with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory over Spain’s Tommy Robredo.
Russian Kafelnikov went through with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui.
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS (PREFIX NUMBER DENOTES SEEDING):
SECOND ROUND: 2-Marat Safin (Russia) beat Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); 3-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; 4-Tim Henman (Britain) beat James Blake (US) 6-3, 6-3; 5-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5; Stefan Koubek (Austria) beat 8-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 7-5, 6-3; Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) 6-1, 6-3; Todd Martin (US) beat Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Tommy Robredo (Spain) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3; Guillermo Canas (Argentina) beat Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 6-2, 6-1; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Vince Spadea (US) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3); Fabrice Santoro (France) beat Kristian Pless (Denmark) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); Andy Roddick (US) beat Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5); Taylor Dent (US) beat Felix Mantilla (Spain) 7-6 (7-2), 7-5; Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-2, 6-4; 13-Pete Sampras (US) beat Hyung-Taik Lee (South Korea) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; Marcelo Rios (Chile) beat Carlos Moya (Spain) 7-5, 7-5.
TIMED OUT
SAN DIEGO (California): Seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova lost in bizarre circumstances at the Acura Classic Wednesday, receiving a time violation on match point to hand Japan’s Ai Sugiyama a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 second-round victory.
Officials said it was the first time they could remember a match finishing with a point penalty being handed out on match point.
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS:
THIRD ROUND: 6-Jelena Dokic (Yugoslavia) beat Anastasia Myskina (Russia) 6-4, 6-3; Anna Smashnova (Israel) beat 8-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2).
SECOND ROUND: 1-Venus Williams (US) beat Janette Husarova (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-1; 3-Lindsay Davenport (US) beat Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian (Switzerland) 6-3, 6-0; 5-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-3, 6-1; Meghann Shaughnessy (US) beat Meilen Tu (US) 6-1, 6-2; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat 7-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5; 15-Anne Kremer (Luxembourg) beat Greta Arn (Germany) 6-3, 6-0; Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) beat Nathalie Dechy (France) 7-5, 7-5; Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) beat Daja Bedanova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Conchita Martinez (Spain) beat Tatiana Panova (Russia) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); Anna Kournikova (Russia) beat Jennifer Hopkins (US) 6-2, 6-4.—Reuters/AFP
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