Safin suffers Paris woe

General / Editor / 30 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

Russian star Marat Safin has crashed out of the French Open, beaten in straight sets by Janko Tipsarevic.

The big-serving right-hander has never been at home on clay, with just one semi-final appearance to his name at Roland Garros in 2002, and he fell at the second-round stage 6-4 6-4 7-5 to the Serbian.

The 29-year-old rallied in the third set but failed to convert two break points at 4-4, and will now have time to concentrate on the grass-court season.

The temperamental double Grand Slam-winner has threatened to quit the sport in recent times and his early exit in Paris will doubtless fuel rumours of an imminent retirement.

Elsewhere, sixth seed Novak Djokovic (34 to win the tournament and 4.6 to win without Nadal and Federer) finally completed his first-round match, beating Santiago Giraldo 6-3 7-6 6-4, but 10th seed Tomas Berdych lost in straight sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The Spaniard converted six break points to run out a 7-5 6-4 6-4 winner with his opponent's 42 unforced errors helping him set up a clash with Argentina's Juan Pablo Brzezicki, who beat American Robert Kendrick in four sets.

The big two of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continue to dominate the market and trade at 1.87 and 3.15 respectively to claim the title.

In the Big Two v the Field market, the field is on offer at 6.4, with the Big Two trading at 1.17.