Sad Safin Slump Continues With Indy Loss

A charitable Marat Safin, the former No. 1-ranked Russian perhaps best remembered for mercilessly pounding Pete Sampras in his first Slam final at the US Open, handed No. 512-ranked South African qualifier Wesley Whitehouse, who had only won one ATP-level match in his nine-year career, a 6-1, 6-4 victory in his opener Wednesday at Indianapolis.

Even with his little experience at the tour level over the years, Whitehouse knew the drill with the temperamental Russian.

"You never know with him," said Whitehouse, the Wimbledon junior winner in 1997. "He can play really well or badly."

Safin, who sat out six months between August 2005 and February of this year with a knee injury he refused to have surgically repaired, is now 12-12 this year, advancing to the quarterfinals or better only once when he lost to Nicolas Almagro in the claycourt semis at Valencia.

"I never felt comfortable on the court," Safin said. "This kind of a loss hurts. I don't really know what to do. You can only look for better times. I'm not even close to my tennis."

Top-seeded James Blake basked in the glow of the headliner night session, beating Thailand's Danai Udomchoke 7-6(5), 6-4.

No. 6 seed Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty was the other upset victim on the day, taking only five games against the fast-court-loving veteran Kenneth Carlsen.

Other seeded winners Wednesday were (5) Tommy Haas (d. Bastl), (7) Dmitry Tursunov (d. Becker who retired in the third with heat illness), (8) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Arthurs in three), (9) Xavier Malisse (d. H.-T. Lee), (10) Nicolas Mahut (d. Alves in three), (12) Gilles Muller (d. Capdeville), and (15) Igor Kunitsyn (d. Burgsmuller).

"This is all a build up to the US Open," said Haas, laying out the basics of the US Open Series, and the weather, for reporters. "It is hot here, and then we go to another (Los Angeles) where it is also hot."

Haas, having an up-and-down year after two shoulder surgeries, says these are the conditions that could produce another run.

"I really feel like I'm in my second career," the former No. 2-ranked German said. "If I'm healthy, I'm tough to beat under these conditions (heat and hardcourts). You go from hardcourts, to clay, to grass, back to hardcourts, it is tough to get used to. This is the first hardcourt tournament and you just have to get used to it. The footing, I like it and I think I can move better on it."

Thursday's line-up in Indy is (1) Blake vs. (Q) Whitehouse, (2) Roddick vs. Morrison in an all-American, (3) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (14) "Rappin'" Vince Spadea, (8) Srichaphan vs. (11) Goldstein, (15) Kunitsyn vs. (4) Ginepri, (12) Muller vs. Carlsen, (7) Tursunov vs. (9) Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, and (5) Haas vs. (10) Mahut.