Marat Safin, playing for the fourth time in three days, summoned enough energy to beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the LA Open.
Marat Safin, playing for the fourth time in three days, summoned enough energy to beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the LA Open.
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Safin, who played an exhibition match against Pete Sampras on Monday and beat Robby Ginepri the following night, also teamed with Igor Kunitsyn to win a first-round doubles on Monday.
"It was different conditions," the 29-year-old Safin said yesterday after advancing to his third straight Los Angeles quarter-final.
"It was during the day, so it's completely opposite the night. The balls are flying much more so it's tough to really control them and it takes some time to get used to it. I was a little bit slow at the beginning of the match."
The win over Gulbis put the two-time Grand Slam champion into his first quarter-finals of the year and earned him at least a day off from singles play.
The grind is a big reason why Safin says he will retire at the end of this season. "It's getting tougher and tougher to play these kinds of matches, to fight when you're struggling and not playing well," Safin said.
"It's difficult to motivate yourself and take care of your body. You have to spend much more time in a gym and practicing. There are so many (other) things to do. I need some vacation, take half a year just to relax and realize that I'm not anymore a tennis player and to understand that there is life afterward.
"I need to relax. There was so much stress throughout the years. There is no matches, there is no more match points, there is no more deuces, there is no more second serves. It's a different way of thinking and I need to take some time off to really understand it," Safin said.
Safin will meet the winner of a match between Tommy Haas, the top seed and two-time champion, and Jesse Levine on Friday.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals was John Isner of the United States, who overcame an injury late in the second-set tie-breaker to beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 7-6 (11).
Australian qualifier Carsten Ball moved on with a 6-4, 1-0 victory over No 3 seed Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, who was unable to continue in the second set due to a left ankle injury.
Isner twisted his left ankle and collapsed on the court after trying to reverse direction on a forehand that gave Baghdatis an 11-10 lead in the tie-breaker.
Baghdatis was the first to reach Isner and hovered over him until a trainer arrived. Isner got to his feet after several minutes, but was limping noticeably and unable to put much weight on the left ankle and foot while serving.
The injury seemed to affect Baghdatis more than Isner, though.
"He missed a second-serve return (to make it 11-all), something he hadn't done really all match, and I hit a forehand as hard as I could and closed my eyes and it went in, right off the line," said Isner, who won on his fifth match point when Baghdatis hit a backhand long.
"I was extremely fortunate to get through that match."
Isner and Ball are scheduled to meet in Friday's quarter-finals. Isner pulled out of doubles as a precaution. It will be the fourth quarter-finals of the year and the second in two weeks for Isner, and the first on the ATP Tour for Ball, who lives in nearby Newport Beach.
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