Thu, Sep 30, 2004 - Page 20 News List

Schiavone advances in Brussels

AP , BRUSSELS, BELGIUMPALERMO, SICILYAP, SEOULAP, SHANGHAI, CHINAAP, BANGKOK, THAILAND

Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia-Montenegro, defeated Jon Van Lottum of the Netherlands.

Thailand Open

Former world No 1 Marat Safin stormed into the second round yesterday with a confident 6-2, 6-3 win over Israel's Noam Okun.

Only three days after spearheading Russia to a 5-0 Davis Cup whitewash of Thailand in Moscow, the third-seeded Safin used his powerful backcourt game to beat Okun in just 66 minutes at Impact Arena.

Safin kept the pressure on Okun the entire match and sealed the first set with a 180kph ace.

The Russian dominated the second set with his superior groundstrokes and got an early break in the first game to lead 4-2. Despite a spirited defense, Safin punished Okun's serve to take the match.

The Czech Republic's Jiri Vanek rallied from a slow start to beat Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. No. 8 Robin Soderling of Sweden advanced in comfortable fashion, beating Israel's Harel Levy 6-3, 6-4, while Chile's Adrian Garcia beat Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan 7-6 (5), 6-3.

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