/ 28 May 2009

Safin, Santoro play final matches at French Open

Veteran players Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro said so long to the French Open on Wednesday, both departing from the clay court tournament in the first week.

Safin, a former No. 1-ranked player and two-time Grand Slam champion, lost a back-and-forth marathon to French wild card entry Josselin Ouanna 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-6, 10-8 in the second round. Santoro played only eight minutes in the completion of his 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 first-round loss to Christophe Rochus of Belgium.

”I didn’t draw the heart, and I didn’t lay down and I didn’t cry,” said Safin, who reached the semifinals at Roland Garros only
once in his 11 appearances, in 2002. ”Terrible way to finish with the French Open, but anyway…”

Maria Sharapova nearly joined Safin and Santoro on the sidelines, but the unseeded Russian escaped the second round by hanging on to beat 11th-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-2, 1-6, 8-6.

Top-seeded Dinara Safina and defending champion Ana Ivanovic also advanced.

On the men’s side, four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal stretched his record to a perfect 30-0 on the red clay of Roland Garros, and No. 3 Andy Murray also advanced.

On Thursday, second-seeded Roger Federer and No. 4 Novak Djokovic are scheduled to play, while No. 2 Serena Williams and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic are due to get on court in the women’s tournament.

Safin couldn’t find a way to get his booming shots past Ouanna, a 23-year-old Frenchman who is making his Grand Slam debut at this
year’s tournament.

”He was basically running around the forehand and trying to build up the point from there,” said Safin, now 29 and playing out his final season on tour. ”And I couldn’t find any angles to catch his backhand.”

The pair traded hard shots throughout the final set, and Safin was able to save three match points before succumbing in the second round at Roland Garros for the third straight year.

The crowd was against him Wednesday, and Safin thought that might give him a boost, so he goaded them for more.

”Why not? Let’s play a little bit,” Safin said. ”That’s what I needed. I was a little bit tentative about my game today because I
was frustrated the way I played.”

When it was over, though, the crowd applauded as Safin walked off centre court for the last time.

Santoro, who has made a record 67 Grand Slam appearances and equaled the tournament mark with his 20th French Open this year, finished off his suspended match from the night before on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

The completion didn’t last long, but it seemed to be worth it.

”Out of the 15 tournaments I have scheduled this year, Roland Garros was the one that’s most scary for me,” said the 36-year-old Santoro, who is also set to retire at the end of the season.

”I thought, is it reasonable at my age to play such long matches on clay? Then I thought, is it reasonable to refuse to do it?” –Sapa, AP