| Monday, 23 June 2008 Written by Helen Gilbert Marat Safin breezed into the second round of the men’s singles with a convincing straight sets win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini. The 28-year-old Russian produced a dazzling display, polishing off the first two sets in 49 minutes for the loss of only three games. Safin, who is famed for abusing racquets, kept his cool throughout, breaking only his 21-year-old opponent’s service games on an all-too frequent basis. A mixture of sizzling drives, crosscourt winners and consistently good serving left Fognini, ranked 86 in the world, looking bemused and slow around the court in the first two sets. That briefly changed in the third when the Italian appeared to come alive. At 4-5 down, a cleverly placed drop shot enabled him to steal Safin’s service game and he signalled to the crowd to whoop and cheer as he levelled the third at 5-5. They responded – an action that seemed to get under the skin of his Russian opponent – but the former world No.1 eventually regained his composure in the ensuing tie-break and marched off the court with a win tucked safely under his belt. It is a performance Safin should be proud of. So far, the 75 world ranked player has had a disappointing year, only twice winning back-to-back matches and his year-end ranking has dropped for the past three years. But the sparkle that helped the Russian reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2001 was evident today, marking a potential start to the end of his dry spell.
| Court 11 - Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Round | |
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