Safin tumbles out
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ByEurosport
Published 18/04/2006 at 09:57 GMT
Marat Safin crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday, falling in straight sets 6-0 -7-5 to Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. The Russian never looked comfortable on the Court Central and had to wait until the third game of the second set before he ev
TENNIS 2006 MONTE-CARLO MASTERS first round Marat Safin
Image credit: Reuters
Safin - who was playing at his home tournament - failed to impress the local crowd, and started in an uncharacteristically sloppy manner.
The former world number one simply could not hold his serve, and he let his lack of accuracy affect the rest of his game - by the third game of the first set, he had already thrown his first tantrum and thrown his racket to the ground.
Mathieu - who had the crowd on his side after Safin's outburst - kept his cool and played an impressive first set, breaking three times and holding his serve well to win it 6-0.
The Frenchman continued where he had left off in the second set, breaking Safin early to take a 2-0 lead and effectively set up the victory.
Safin rallied to break back but neither player could take an advantage both players struggled to find their serving rhythm.
But Mathieu eventually got the better of his opponent, breaking Safin at 6-5 up to take the match, and go through to a second round meeting with Guillermo Coria.
CORIA STUTTERS THROUGH
Earlier, Coria found his way past Mikhail Youzhny with a 6-3 6-1 win. The Argentine failed to find his best form but still had too much for his Russian opponent, who struggled to come to terms with the clay surface.
Despite hitting a barrage double faults in the opening set, the former French Open finalist was still able to wrap up to first set 6-3 in a poor quality match that saw a raft unforced errors in the early morning sun.
But the world number nine managed to raise his level in the second set and was eventually able to book his place in round two as his opponent simply fell apart in one of the most picturesque settings on the ATP Tour.
DAVYDENKO TOSSED OUT
Fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko was bundled out of the tournament in the first match of the day on Court 9, as he fell to a 6-3 2-6 6-4 defeat at the hands of Robin Soderling of Sweden.
The world number 5 was never at the races on the day, and the defeat is hardly the ideal preparation for his upcoming appearance in the French Open.
Soderling goes through to the second round to face Potito Starare , a qualifier, who beat Nicolas Mahut of France 7-6 (2) 6-2.
ELSEWHERE
Also early on court was the Czech, Tomas Berdych, who made short work of his first round encounter as he cruised past the Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-2 6-4.
Spain's Feliciano Lopez overcame the challenge of Romania's Victor Hanescu 6-4 4-6 7-6(2) on Court 9 to book his place in the second round, whilst
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