Safin makes through at Paris Masters tennis

Russian Marat Safin moved his first step towards his fourth Paris Masters title, beating Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-1 and 7-6 in the first round of the indoor tournament here on Monday.

Safin, three-time winner in 2000, 2002 and 2004, was the sure favorite for the title as five of the world's top six players were absent.

After a great start, Safin showed signed of nerves but recovered in time to win the tiebreak 7-5 in 74 minutes.

The former world number one will meet Swede Robin Soderling on the second day on Tuesday, when the seeded players take the stage.

World number one Roger Federer withdrew on Monday for fatigue, leaving world number five Nikolay Davydenko as the highest player left in the draw.

Other absentees are world number two Rafael Nadal who pulled out on Sunday with a stomach muscle injury, world number three David Nalbandian, four Ivan Ljubicic and six Andy Roddick.

The Paris tournament suffers from being the last regular event before the year-end Masters Cup, featuring the top eight players in the ATP Race, to be staged from Nov. 12 in Shanghai, China.

Federer, Nadal, Ljubicic and Roddick have already qualified for the Masters Cup.

Source: Xinhua