Safin finally ends miserable
Monte Carlo run
Sixth seed Marat Safin reeled off nine games in a row to bounce back from a set down and beat Spain's Tommy Robredo 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to record his first ever victory in the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
With a record of three first round defeats from three visits to the principality, a red-faced and frustrated Safin looked to be heading for the exit once again when he trailed the gritty baseliner 6-4, 3-0 on Centre Court.
But the former world number one never lost faith and, against a glistening Mediterranean backdrop, hauled his way back into the match for a hard-fought victory to end his run of Monegasque misery.
"I can play well on clay," he smiled on court afterwards. "So it is nice to get a win here at last."
Robredo, named Tommy after The Who's rock opera of the same name, played like a spin-ball wizard in the opening set to ride rough-shod over the sixth seed.
The dynamic baseliner pummelled his way through Safin's defences with searing top-spin forehands to take the set 6-4.
A frustrated Safin received treatment to a right foot injury at the beginning of the second set but it appeared to be of no avail.
NEW GENERATION
He fell behind 3-0 as Robredo - the latest in a line of a new generation of Spanish baseliners - continued to mix up bludgeoned forehands with artful drop shots and heavily-sliced backhands.
Safin finally held, though, for 3-1 and, boosted by that, immediately got the break he has worked so hard for.
That signalled a major change in fortunes as Safin, runner-up at the Australian Open earlier in the year, began to find his range.
His lethal groundstrokes which had been flying long began peppering the baseline and he started dictating play.
Taking firm control of the match, Safin rattled off nine games in a display of power tennis to level the match and streak into a 3-0 lead in the decider.
Robredo refused to fold but appeared increasingly lightweight against the Russian's might.
The Spaniard managed to hold for 3-1 and for 4-2 but there was no stopping Safin.
The Russian went from strength to strength, diving around the court for acrobatic volleys leaving his white shirt coated in red clay.
He broke Robredo one final time in the eighth game of the decider to sew up victory in two hours 15 minutes.
