Mirnyi Stuns Safin at Rotterdam

On Tuesday, No. 1 seed Marat Safin became the second seed to fall at Rotterdam.

On Tuesday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Belarus' Max "the Beast" Mirnyi rallied from behind to stun No. 1 seed Marat Safin 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round at Rotterdam.

Coming off his year-best performance of a semifinal finish at the Open 13 in Marseille, France, Mirnyi picked up where he left off last week, eliminating the Russian New Balls Please campaign star in their first-ever match-up.

With the victory over Safin, Mirnyi advances to face Safin's Swedish New Balls Please comrade, Andreas Vinciguerra, who ousted Frenchman Cedric Pioline earlier Tuesday 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Against Vinciguerra, a finalist this past Sunday at the Copenhagen Open, Mirnyi maintains a 2-0 career advantage, with two hard-court victories against the Swede in 2000, at the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati and Toulouse.

Top seed Safin out of World Indoor tournament

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Feb 20 - Top seed Marat Safin was bundled out of the World Indoor tournament by Belarussian Max Mirnyi on Tuesday. Mirnyi won their first round match 6-7 6-4 6-3. Safin had the better of the early exchanges, edging a tight first set by winning the tie-break.

But with the Russian becoming increasingly erratic, a late break of serve in the second set saw Mirnyi draw level. Mirnyi, his confidence growing, was by far the more solid player in the deciding set. Safin said afterwards his slump in form was only temporary.

"I don't have the confidence at the moment to play against guys like him," he said. "I can't fight. I'm trying to find my game but it's very difficult. "I don't feel confident on the court but it's not a crisis for sure. I just need one or two matches and it's going to come...It's just a matter of time."