Skip to main content
CNN.com International
The Web    CNN.com      Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
World Sport

Safin keeps cool to win a classic


PARIS, France -- Marat Safin kept cool to win the battle of the former world number ones with a 7-6 7-5 1-6 7-6 victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero and reach the last 16 of the French Open in Paris on Saturday.

The third-round contest had the potential to produce fireworks since Australian Open champion Safin had accused the Spaniard of acting like a 14-year-old after losing to him in the second round in Hamburg earlier this month.

But the Russian third seed stuck to his task on court and ended the challenge of the 2003 Roland Garros champion with an emphatic smash after three hours 45 minutes.

"I think the crowd should get a video cassette of this match because it was a classic," said Safin as he left court with sweat dripping off his face.

"I'm taking this tournament very seriously and in this sort of match you have to take your opportunities when they come."

The 25-year-old Safin has been a crowd favorite in Paris since reaching the fourth round as a qualifier in 1998 and treated the crowd to a high quality contest.

Although Safin has often been undone by his own volatile temperament, on Saturday he simply kept a lid on his emotions as he attempted to secure his first win over the Spaniard since 2003.

Fererro, who is on the comeback trail after illness and injury ruined his 2004 season, held an early break in each set, only to see Safin wipe out the advantage on another sweltering day in the French capital.

After Safin had edged into a two-set lead, Ferrero finally broke the pattern in the third when the Russian appeared to take his foot off the pedal.

Stepped up

The players stepped up the pace in the fourth as each searched for the vital breakthrough.

Trading searing groundstrokes from the baseline, there was little to separate the pair as they headed into a tiebreak.

But with victory in sight, the world number four eventually piled on the pressure by racing into a 6-2 lead.

One match point was all he needed in the end as he kept his eye on the ball to punch away the smash and take his place in the last 16 for the second year running.

He will next face another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, who overwhelmed compatriot David Sanchez.

Last year's French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria raced into the fourth round with a 6-1 6-1 7-6 hammering of Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

The eighth-seeded Argentine, who squandered a two-set lead to compatriot Gaston Gaudio in last year's final, needed just one hour, 54 minutes to win through to the last 16.

Melzer had beaten 29th seed Mikhail Youzhny in the previous round but he was helpless as Coria blitzed to a two-set lead in less than an hour.

The Austrian put up better resistance in the third set but Coria maintained his concentration to win the tiebreak and set up a clash with 12th-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Three share U.S. Open lead
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure
 
 
 
 

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.