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MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Top seeds Roger Federer and Marat Safin made confident starts to their claycourt season on Tuesday, moving swiftly through to the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. World No. 1 Federer, looking to become the first player
to win three consecutive Masters Series titles, recovered from
an early wobble to beat Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-1 while Safin
breezed past South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik 6-0, 7-5. There were two high-profile casualties, however, with third
seed Tim Henman and fifth seed Carlos Moya both losing to
Argentines. Henman fell 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Mariano Zabaleta while
former champion Moya slid out 7-6 (10), 1-6, 6-3 to Mariano Puerta. Federer found himself 3-1 down against the big-serving
Rusedski before rattling off nine games in a row. Rusedski managed to end the sequence at 0-4 down but Federer
clinched the match after little more than an hour before
entertaining the crowd. "I just waited for my chance and once I got it, I took it,"
said Federer, who continues his tilt at a first Monte Carlo
title with a second round match against Spain's Albert Montanes. "The conditions were tough for him, he wasn't coming in much
and was relying on his slice, that's a tough way to beat me," Federer said. Second seed Safin needed just 21 minutes to blast through
the first set against an overwhelmed Hyung-taik. The Russian, who lives a short stroll from the Country Club,
took his foot off the gas in the second but still had too much
weaponry, clinching a second-round meeting with Cyril Saulnier
thanks to a single break of serve. "I was able to experiment a little," said Australian Open
champion Safin, who rates clay as his favorite surface. "After Australia I had three weeks to rest and then it takes
time, basically I lose the confidence," added Safin of his early
exits from both Indian Wells and Miami. Moya, the 1998 Monte Carlo winner, racked up an unhappy hat-trick of
defeats this season against Puerta who arrived fresh from
winning the title in Casablanca on Sunday. Having leveled the match after losing an exciting first set
tiebreak 12-10, Moya dropped his serve to trail 3-1 in the third
and the gritty Puerta hung on for victory. "It's disappointing, this was a chance to win a few matches
on clay," Moya said. Henman trailed 6-4, 2-1 to Zabaleta overnight but seemed to
have turned things around with some trademark attacking tennis. He was made to pay for a missed break point early in the
decider though as Zabaleta claimed a fourth consecutive victory
on clay over last year's French Open semifinalist. "I played better today and I felt that I was dictating a
little bit. But on clay you have to make the most of these
momentum swings," Henman said. Triple French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten, a big favorite
in Monte Carlo after his titles in 1999 and 2001, also tasted
defeat, losing 7-5, 6-2 to 13th seeded Croat Mario Ancic. "I lost a hard match and walked off court without pain,
which is almost like a victory," Kuerten, 28, said. Kuerten, who returned in Valencia last week after a
six-month absence following hip surgery, dropped serve at 5-6 in
the first set, and then slipped a break behind early in the
second as his challenge withered away. "I feel that I'm at about 65 percent at the moment but ... if it stays like this, when I get to Roland Garros I will be about 80 percent, and that's much better than what I
expected," Kuerten said. In other play, eighth seed Ivan Ljubicic crashed 6-2, 6-2 to
Olivier Rochus of Belgium while Slovakia's 14th seed Dominik
Hrbaty was also beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Spaniard David Ferrer. Tenth seed Nikolay Davydenko also looked to be heading for
an early exit before coming from behind to beat Jurgen Melzer of
Austria 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 and set up a clash with Albert Costa who
beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 7-6 (5), 6-2. Frenchman Fabrice Santoro gave the home crowd something to
cheer when the 32-year-old beat Sweden's Robin Soderling 7-6 (3), 7-5
on his 14th appearance at Monte Carlo.
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