Tennis: Safin fined after defeat
French Open officials this afternoon fined ousted second seed Marat Safin £7,050 for failing to attend the mandatory press conference after his defeat by Fabrice Santoro.
The Russian had lost in five sets to Frenchman Santoro in a stunning match.
He came from two-sets-to-love and a break down in the third set to force a decider with a run of 10 successive games.
But just as Safin looked to be on the way to victory, he folded and Santoro reeled off six straight games to clinch victory.
Safin was warned by the match umpire for smashing his racquet to the floor as the match drifted away, and then neglected to speak to the media.
Santoro, who knocked Safin out of last year’s Olympics, dominated the opening two sets.
Santoro said his earlier record against Safin was something he put to the back of his mind.
"I was not thinking back about the past clashes between us. I knew what tactics to deploy against him.
"When you lose five times out of six against the same player the other guy is uncertain."
Santoro now faces Spanish 13th seed Alex Corretja who motored into the last 16 crushing Swede Magnus Larsson 6-0 6-3 6-4.
French 10th seed Sebastien Grosjean beat compatriot Anthony Dupuis to reach the last 16 winning 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-4 6-2.
Grosjean now faces unseeded Spaniard Galo Blanco, who ousted Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller 7-5 6-2 6-3.
