KUALA LUMPUR: Wild-card Joachim Johansson eliminated Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 (7), 6-3 Tuesday in the first round of the Malaysian Open.
Neither managed a break in the first set, but Johansson opened up a 4-1 lead in the second after Hewitt double-faulted on break point.
The Australian struggled to hold serve in the fourth and sixth games. He forced Johansson to save four break points to maintain his advantage. “I worked very hard to hold that service game,” said Johansson, ranked 446th.
Mikhail Youzhny of Russia also advanced, beating seventh-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-2. Ferrer broke his opponent in the second game to take a 2-0 lead but Youzhny won three consecutive games, eventually taking the set to a tiebreaker. The Russian, ranked 52nd, held the serve to take the set.
Youzhny broke serve in the third and eighth games of the second set.
“I have been in Kuala Lumpur a few days, and I think it helps me that I am more used to the conditions,” Youzhny said.
Indian qualifier Rohan Bopanna defeated Jose Acasuso of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic got by Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
Also, Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-3, and Karol Beck of Slovakia defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Marat Safin farewell
tour continues
In Bangkok, former No. 1 Marat Safin stretched his farewell tour out another day as he reached the second round of the Thailand Open Tuesday 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 over German fifth seed Philipp Petzschner. Safin went a step beyond fellow November retiree Fabrice Santoro, who didn’t have the firepower in Bangkok against Russia’s Evgeny Korolev, going down 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7). Safin goes into the second round against 30-year-old Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, who put out Germany’s Florent Mayer 6-3, 6-3. The 29-year-old winner of US and Australian Open titles, is due to quit the game in just over a month at the Paris Masters, as is 36-year-old Frenchman Santoro. The Russian struck seven aces and capitalized on four of 10 break points to seal victory after 97 minutes, avenging the loss he suffered to the German in the first round here last year. Safin, a semifinalist here in 2004 and 2006, will be looking for only his second ATP quarter-final of a dismal concluding season which has been marred by nine first-round exits. The moody and charismatic Russian has made no secret of his desire to sample other sides of life after his career on court. Seventh seed Santoro, who came to the court with a 2-0 record over Korolev, a decade-and-a-half his junior, was unable to convert on three match points in the final-set tiebreaker. The Frenchman played his first Challenger tournament in Cherbourg in October 1988, when Korolev was just eight months old. Santoro earned his last victory in a 13-16 season in his opening match in New Haven a month ago before exiting early at the US Open and last week in Metz.
Austrian sixth seed Jurgen Melzer secured easy passage over Brazilian Marcos Daniel 6-3, 6-2 while Andreas Beck, one of six Germans who began on the autumn ATP Asian tournament swing, beat France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 7-6 (7/1). Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan, ranked 174th, upset German Benjamin Becker 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to win only the second ATP match of his career after getting a round in the US Open over Christophe Rochus.
