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11/9/09 9:32 PM | Ricky Dimon
Marat Safin was one point away from retirement on three different occasions against Thierry Ascione on Monday night in Paris. Nonetheless, Safin came back and lives to see another day on the ATP Tour.
Marat Safin d. (Q) Thierry Ascione 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3)
Safin, retiring at the end of this tournament, somehow managed to prolong his career on Monday night at the BNP Paribas Open. The two-time Grand Slam champion saved three match points before overcoming Ascione in one hour and 52 minutes. Safin seemed to be on his way to a more routine victory when he seized an early break of serve at the expense of his underdog opponent before serving out the first set 5-4. Driven by a French crowd that was hoping for a competitive match, Ascione turned the tide midway through set two. The 168th-ranked Frenchman stormed back from a break down, earning a second service break at 5-4 that finished off the second frame of play in style.
A tense third set saw Safin come within one point of retirement on three different occasions while serving to stay alive at 4-5. The mercurial Russian came up with aces at 15-40, 30-40, and again at ad-out before holding to level things at 5-5. Two routine service holds later, a tiebreaker was necessary to decide things. Safin earned the first mini-break with a blistering return winner at 2-1 and consolidated the advantage on serve en route to a 5-2 lead. The former world No. 1 seized another mini-break for 6-3 when Ascione netted a forehand and Safin finished the comeback win on the next point with a forehand volley winner. Safin will look to keep his career going once again when he takes on Juan Martin Del Potro in round two.
Andreas Seppi d. Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3
Seppi eased past a disinterested Kohlschreiber in just 57 minutes on Monday afternoon at the Paris Masters. Kohlschreiber played dismal tennis throughout the match and Seppi, who is always rock solid from the back of the court, simply had to keep the ball in play. The 50th-ranked Italian broke serve twice in the opening set and gave just one break back before serving it out at 5-3.
Poor serving from Kohlschreiber continued in the second frame of play. The 26th-ranked German put in only 54 percent of his first serves, double-faulted three times, and won a mere 36 percent of his second-serve points. After going down an early break in set two, Kohlschreiber showed no sings of recovering. He won a mere three points in his last four service games and surrendered serve again at 3-5 to give Seppi the victory. Seppi fired seven aces and one double-fault en route to a second-round meeting with No. 7 seed Fernando Verdasco.
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