Former champion Marat Safin came to this year’s US Open seeded number 13 and was sent home early by Thomas Enqvist 7-6 (5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Four years ago, Safin marched on to the centre court at the National Tennis Centre and defeated Pete Sampras to become a Grand Slam champion at age 20. It seems a lifetime ago.
The famous Safin temper surfaced only occasionally on Tuesday.
He seemed confused at times, shrugging his shoulders, and was unable to solve Enqvist, who once was ranked number four in the world but dipped as low as number 95 last year. Enqvist came into this tournament at number 59.
Safin seemed on the road back to prominence earlier this year when he reached the final of the Australian Open before losing to Roger Federer. After that, he failed to win back-to-back matches on hard court until reaching the quarterfinals at Cincinnati earlier this month.
Then came the match against Enqvist and a quick exit at the Open.
Fifth-seeded Tim Henman won’t be leaving early. His back aching, Henman asked US Open organisers for a one-day delay of his first-round match at the final Grand Slam of the season.
Granted the request, Henman then went out and played a marathon on Tuesday, defeating Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The match lasted three hours and 37 minutes, not the best way to treat a tender back.
Henman, making his 10th straight appearance at the Open, played carefully, trying to avoid further injury. He withstood 39 aces from Karlovic, who blistered serves as high as 224kph.
He also avoided mistakes, playing smart, tactical tennis to overcome Karlovic, who hit 84 winners but had 54 unforced errors.
Earlier, Justine Henin-Hardenne began the defence of her US Open championship, defeating 15-year-old qualifier Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4 in a match that turned out to be more difficult than she might have expected.
Seeded number one and armed with the Olympic gold medal, Henin-Hardenne came in as a major favourite against the teenage Vaidisova, who was making her US Open debut.
But after zipping through the first set in 17 minutes, Henin-Hardenne ran into some difficulty in the second set.
Vaidisova broke her twice and the defending champion seemed visibly frustrated.
Playing in just her second tournament after missing much of the summer with a viral infection, Henin-Hardenne suddenly began making unforced errors and fell behind in the second set 1-4.
Then the number-one player in the world recovered her poise and her game and won the next five games to complete the victory against Vaidisova, who captured her first tour title at Vancouver earlier this month and played impressively against Henin-Hardenne.
”I had a cold and was not feeling well the last few days,” Henin-Hardenne said. ”She started playing better and I wasn’t ready for it.”
Vaidisova was excited about the centre-court setting and her opponent.
”I was very excited, but there were nerves, too, because I was playing on Ashe against the number-one player in the world,” the youngster said. ”I have a lot of respect for her. I see from the match how much I need to improve.”
French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, seeded number four, defeated Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-0 in just 42 minutes, and fifth-seeded Lindsay Davenport, who came into the Open with four straight hard-court tournament victories, defeated Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-0 in 50 minutes.
In other early matches, number 10 Nicolas Massu ousted Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; number 14 Nadia Petrova of Russia defeated Zheng Jie of China 6-0, 6-1; number 15 Paradorn Srichaphan defeated Victor Hanescu of Romania 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1; and number 22 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia defeated Oscar Hernandez of Spain 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.
Also, Maria Kirilenko defeated Russian countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 (3), 6-3; number 26 Elena Bovina of Russia downed Marta Marrero of Spain 6-3, 6-0; and Mary Pierce defeated French compatriot Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-2.
Tuesday’s schedule also included number 11 Venus Williams against Petra Mandula of Hungary; and number nine Svetlana Kuznetsova against Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria.
Defending men’s champion Andy Roddick, seeded number two, headlines the evening programme, facing Scoville Jenkins of the United States after Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, seeded seventh, plays Laura Granville of the US. — Sapa-AP