Safin Vaults to Top of Tennis-X Euro Series Standings

Russian Marat Safin vaulted to the top of the Tennis-X Euro Series standings Sunday with his Masters Series title at Madrid, beating Argentina's David Nalbandian who rose to the No. 2 spot.

"It's great," said Safin after the Madrid win, probably thinking about taking home the year-end prize for topping the Euro Series. "It's great for me to be able to get back to the Masters, find my game so I can be pretty confident for the next two weeks." And by "Masters" he probably meant "Euro Series events."

Safin is hoping to open a lead on the Euro Series Standings by playing this week in St. Petersburg, with Nalbandian looking to gain points in Basel.

After rising to the No. 2 spot, Nalbandian says he will fight to the end to try and wrestle the top spot from Safin.

"I'll still fight for it because I know I'm playing well again," said Nalbandian, here talking about the Masters Cup but obviously preoccupied with his Euro Series standing. "I don't know how the match is now, but I think I have to win the two next tournaments."

That's the spirit.

Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, who formerly held the top spot, comes in at No. 3, a mere four points ahead of No. 4 Swede Robin Soderling.

A grand prize of $25.00 (USD) awaits the Euro Series winner after the completion of regular-season play, along with 50 percent of the fan-supported Euro Series Prize Fund, which currently stands at an impressive $28.00, topping even the first place bounty.

"The cooperation from the tennis community with the Euro Series has been unprecedented," said Tennis-X CEO Luke Johnson. "Last week an X-fan mailed us a bowling trophy with a tennis racquet substituted for the bowling ball, that is the kind of innovation that drives a sport forward. That's a keeper. An artistic use of Super Glue."

The nine European indoor events between the US Open and the Masters Cup comprise the Tennis-X Euro Series, with four remaining in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel, Switzerland), the if...Stockholm Open (Sweden), the St. Petersburg Open (Russia), and the Masters Series-Paris (France), all leading to the season-ending Masters Cup in Houston.

To see the complete Euro Series Standings or for more information, go to: www.Tennis-X.com