Safin denies he will quit after Miami loss

(CNN) -- Struggling Marat Safin denied he would quit tennis after falling to a humiliating defeat at the ATP Masters Series tournament in Miami.

Two-time grand slam champion Safin lost to American qualifier Bobby Reynolds 7-6 4-6 7-6 in the opening round, his fifth straight defeat in 2008 against a solitary victory.

The 28-year-old Russian, who has suffered a string of injuries, said he was now healthy and not tired of tennis.

"If I was tired, I would have stopped a long time ago," he told the Associated Press.

"I'm trying, and it doesn't come out my way. But that doesn't mean that I have to stop because I'm not winning matches. I enjoy what I'm doing. I have plenty of cash to do what I want to do, so what I want to do is play tennis."

Safin has not won a title since the 2005 Australian Open, and his ranking has fallen from 56th to 90th since the start of the year.

After winning the opening set on a tiebreaker, Safin was broken for the only time in the match in the second set as Reynolds, ranked 104 in the world leveled.

Safin led 3-1 in the deciding set tiebreaker but unforced errors cost him dear as Reynolds took the victory.

American Mardy Fish, who beat Roger Federer on the way to a runner-up finish last week at Indian Wells, also crashed out to Frenchman Arnaud Clement, 6-3 6-3.

"It's obviously a little disappointing to go out so early here," Fish said. "But I'm going to take a lot of memories from last week," he told Associated Press.

In the accompanying WTA tournament, Ai Sugiyama beat Russian 17-year-old Anastasia Pivovarova 6-3 7-6.

Another Russian, 19-year-old qualifier Alisa Kleybanova, beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3 6-7 6-2.

Seeded players had first-round byes and begin action on Friday. E-mail to a friend

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