INDIANAPOLIS, 21 July 2006 — The fading career of former world No. 1 Marat Safin reached a new low on Wednesday when he was beaten in straight sets by the 512th-ranked Wesley Whitehouse at the RCA Championships.
Safin, who has been struggling to recover from a knee injury, went down 6-1, 6-4 to the South African qualifier, who claimed only his second ATP win of the year.
The formerly swaggering Safin dropped to 12-12 on the season, his last victory coming over Greg Rusedski in the Wimbledon first round. Safin’s Russian compatriots Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn both advanced into the third round.
Seventh seed Tursunov beat Benjamin Becker 6-3, 5-7, 2-1 as the German retired with heat exhaustion. No. 15 Kunitsyn defeated Lars Burgsmuller 7-5, 6-2.
Top seed James Blake ended a three-year sequence without a victory at the tournament by eclipsing Thailand’s Danai Udomchoke 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan began his hardcourt campaign by coming out on top in a serving duel with Australian qualifier Wayne Arthurs, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4. The second-round victory left the eighth seed breathing easier following seven first-round losses on clay and a first-round defeat at Wimbledon.
Schnyder Cruises Into Quarterfinals
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Patty Schnyder reached the quarterfinals of the $175,000 WTA tournament Wednesday with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory over US qualifier Abigail Spears.
Schnyder, the top seed and defending champion, rebounded from a close call in the first round, in which she had to save a match point as she rallied to win in a third-set tiebreaker against American Lilia Osterloh.
Schnyder clearly wasn’t going to cut it so close again and needed just 53 minutes to advance to a quarterfinal clash with India’s Sania Mirza, a 6-1, 0-6, 6-1 winner over Finland’s Emma Laine. US veteran Amy Frazier posted a 6-3, 6-1 upset of eighth-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina.
In the only remaining first-round match, Russian Vera Zvonareva crushed seventh seed Tatiana Golovin of France 6-3, 6-0 on Wednesday.
