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| June 7, 2005 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1426 |
Safin moves into second round
BERLIN, June 6: World number five Marat Safin eased through to the second round of the Halle Open on Monday but said he could take a few months off to rest if a troublesome knee injury persisted.
A forced lay-off at this stage of the tour would be a severe blow to the Australian Open champion with Wimbledon set to get underway on June 20.
Safin blamed the knee problem, which he said had been bothering him for two months, on the gruelling ATP tour schedule.
Safin will play either France’s Fabrice Santoro or Andrei Pavel of Romania in the second round of the grasscourt tournament.
Results:
Men’s singles (first round): Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-1; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 7-6(3) 7-6(5; Marat Safin (Russia) bt Alexander Popp (Germany) 6-3 6-2; Juergen Melzer (Austria) bt Alberto Martin (Spain) 7-5 6-7(3) 7-6(3); Olivier Rochus (Belgium) beat Cyril Saulnier (France) 6-4 6-4 Florian Mayer (Germany) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-4 7-6(4); Guillermo Canas (Argentina) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-4 6-4
FLYING START
LONDON: Greg Rusedski and Andrew Murray kept the British flag flying high at the Stella Artois Championships after reaching the second round with impressive victories.
Rusedski outgunned ATP debutant and fellow Briton Joshua Goodall 6-3 6-4, while junior US Open champion Murray was even more ruthless in a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of Spaniard Santiago Ventura.
British number two Rusedski, who failed to kick start his grasscourt season last week by surprisingly falling at the first hurdle in the Surbiton Challenger, got his booming serve into gear to edge out wildcard Goodall.
Despite playing his first ATP match and being ranked 286 places below the British number two, Goodall refused to be overawed and even managed to earn a break point.
But with experience on his side, the 31-year-old Rusedski unleashed one of his fierce deliveries to cancel out the danger before securing victory with an ace.
Rusedski’s and Murray’s victories guarantee at least three Britons in the last 32 of the event as world number nine Tim Henman has a bye into the second round.
Rusedski’s first-round conqueror 12 months ago, South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik barely managed to muster any form of challenge this year and was whipped 6-2 6-0 by Belgian Xavier Malisse.
Men’s singles (first round): Greg Rusedski (GBR) bt Joshua Goodall (GBR) 6-3, 6-4; Karol Beck (SVK) bt Wayne Arthurs (AUS) 7-5, 6-4; Gregory Carraz (FRA) bt Sargis Sargsian (ARM) 3-0, retired; Andrew Murray (GBR) bt Santiago Ventura (SPA) 6-1, 6-2; Davide Sanguinetti (ITA) bt Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-2, 7-6 (8/6); Chris Guccione (AUS) bt Kristof Vliegen (BEL) 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4; Xavier Malisse (BEL) bt Hyung-taik Lee (KOR) 6-2, 6-0; Victor Hanescu (ROM) bt Scott Draper (AUS) 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-2; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Jean-Rene Lisnard (FRA) 7-6 (7/2), 6-1; Robby Ginepri (USA) bt Lars Burgsmuller (GER) 6-2, 6-2; Karol Beck (SVK) bt Wayne Arthurs (AUS) 7-5, 6-4; Davide Sanguinetti (ITA) bt Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).—Agencies
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