Ferrero in form before French Open
 |  Ferrero shows his feelings after ousting Safin in an ill-tempered clash |
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HAMBURG, Germany -- Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero outwitted Russian third seed Marat Safin while world No. 1 one Roger Federer earned some sweet revenge at the Hamburg Masters on Wednesday.
Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion who had to qualify for the event, beat Australian Open champion Safin 4-6 6-4 6-2 in an ill-tempered second round tussle.
Top seed Federer enjoyed a 6-2 6-1 victory over Tomas Berdych, the 19-year-old Czech who inflicted one of the most painful defeats of the Swiss star's career at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Ferrero has slumped to 39 in the rankings due to fitness problems and lack of form but the 25-year-old remains one of the world's finest claycourt players and he had too much guile for the temperamental Safin on center court.
The Russian took the first set after Ferrero double-faulted fatally at 4-5, 30-40. But he lost his cool midway through the second set over a line call and Ferrero, who also beat Safin at the Monte Carlo Masters last month, took full advantage.
Safin had a long argument with the chair umpire at 2-0 down and was infuriated when an impatient Ferrero asked the official to order him to resume playing.
"I don't understand what Ferrero was complaining about," said Safin, whose rivalry with the Spaniard dates back to their time as juniors.
"I grew up with the guy basically, we've known each other for 11 years and the guy is doing this to me.
"I don't think it was really polite from his part. You have to act like a gentleman. I'm not trying to cheat anybody, I'm just asking (about the call), I'm just trying to prove my point.
"But don't give me this attitude, like a kid who is 14 years old."
Ferrero, who is beginning to rediscover the form that brought him the French title, hoped their friendship would not be damaged by the incident.
Stay calm and focus
"Sometimes Marat gets a little bit nervous and then he does something like this," he said. "I tried to stay calm and focus on the next point.
"The umpire can't spend three minutes talking with a player, he had to stop it. Three minutes is too much."
Ferrero sealed the second set with a superb drop shot and ran away with the decider to set up a last 16 meeting with another Russian, Nikolay Davydenko.
Defending champion Federer broke 19-year-old Berdych's serve in the opening game of each set and sealed a 53-minute victory with a decisive backhand volley on his first match point. It was his 37th win in 39 matches this year.
"He ruined my Olympic dreams in Athens so it's nice to get him back," said Federer. "Especially 6-2 6-1, that's a nice scoreline."
He next faces Spain's Tommy Robredo who coasted to a 6-3 6-0 victory over Brazil's three-time former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten.
Lying in wait for Federer as a potential quarterfinal opponent is Argentine Guillermo Coria, the runner-up in last week's Rome Masters and at the 2004 French Open.
The 10th seed sped through to the third round by beating Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-3.
Tim Henman won his all-British duel with Greg Rusedski 7-6 6-4 in the first meeting between the two on clay.
The fifth seed was critical of the wet court conditions, saying: "It was very, very difficult. I don't know if I've ever played in tougher conditions."
 Robredo took control after falling 3-2 behind in the opening set | |
French Open champion Gaston Gaudio, the fourth seed, beat former Roland Garros champion Albert Costa 7-5 6-0 while French 18-year-old Richard Gasquet, who upset Federer in Monte Carlo last month, defeated Olympic champion Nicolas Massu 2-6 6-2 6-2.
Kuerten lost the last 10 games as he crashed out against 14th seed Robredo in just 62 minutes having only returned to tennis last month from hip surgery in September 2004.
The man who has dropped to 110 in the rankings broke Robredo for a 3-2 lead in the first set, but failed to win another game.
His fate was sealed after he wasted two break points trailing 3-0 in the second, and Robredo went on win with an ace on first match point.
