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8/11/09 4:18 AM | Ricky Dimon
Marat Safin's final season on the ATP Tour continues to be a woeful one. Safin loses to Gael Monfils in the first round of the Masters Series Montreal on Monday night.
For the second time this season, Marat Safin blew a third-set lead against Gael Monfils, although this time it wasn't quite as disastrous.
Monfils defeat Safin 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Rogers Cup on Monday night. The 13th-seeded Frenchman needed one hour and 49 minutes to set up another blockbuster matchup with either Lleyton Hewitt or Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Safin headed into the Masters Series Montreal in dismal form, owner of a 9-13 match record for his 2009 campaign. It showed during the first set against Monfils. The 29-year-old Russian won just five points in four return games, never got a look at a break point, and surrendered serve twice while putting in just 50 percent of his first deliveries.
Monfils, meanwhile, has been plagued by injuries and after missing Wimbledon and pulling out of last week's Legg Mason Classic, he is making his U.S. Open Series debut in Montreal. Showing some rust, Monfils could not close Safin out in straight sets. Safin continued to struggle with his serve, but he cleaned up his game from the baseline and saved one break point to make his lone break in the second set stand up.
With momentum in hand, the former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion sprinted to a 2-0 lead in the final frame of play, breaking immediately for 1-0. But in typical Safin fashion, he collapsed thereafter and did not win a single game the rest of the way.
It must have brought back a nightmarish memory for Safin, who lost to Monfils 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(3) in the third round of the Masters Series Miami back in March. Safin blew multiple match points in the second set, rebounded to take a 5-2 lead in the third with two breaks, but got broken at 5-2 and 5-4 before falling in a third-set tiebreaker.
Monfils, who finished Monday's match with 10 aces and only one double-fault, is now 4-0 lifetime against Safin.
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