Bangkok - Marat Safin prolonged his November retirement from tennis as Frenchman Fabrice Santoro moved a step closer to the end with a first-round loss to Russian Evgeny Korolev 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) at the Thailand Open Tuesday. Former number one Russian Safin advanced6-2, 3-6, 6-1 against fifth-seeded German Philipp Petzschner.
Both Santoro and Safin are bowing out of the game in little more than a month at the Paris Masters, with Safin ready to explore new horizons while Santoro will be content to sit at home between Paris and Geneva.
Safin will carry on in Asia in the second round, when he faces 30-year-old Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, a winner over Germany's Florent Mayer 6-3, 6-3.
Safin produced seven aces and broke on four of ten chances against Petzschner, advancing in just over 90 minutes. The win was revenge for a loss he suffered to the German in the Bangkok first round, 2008.
Two-time semi-finalist Safin has lost nine times in first rounds in 2009.
Santoro limped out with his fourth straight loss on the ATP as he went town to Korolev, a decade and a half his junior.
The 36-year-old, due to quit the game in November at his home event at Paris Bercy after two decades in the sport, missed on three match points to drop to defeat.
Number 39 Santoro had experience in his corner, having made his first ATP appearance as a teenager in in 1988 when his opponent was just eight months old.
"I expected a better week here," admitted Santoro, who first played the event in 2003 and has yet to win a match in three appearances. "But I still have four tournaments left.
"If I can play like I did today, I'm going to win some matches."
Santoro has now gone a month without a victory, losing in New Haven, the US Open and last week in Metz, eastern France.
Austrian sixth seed Jurgen Melzer earned an easy win over Brazilian Marcos Daniel 6-3, 6-2 while Andreas Beck, one of six Germans in the field, defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 7-5, 7-6 (7-1).
Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan upset German Benjamin Becker 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 while Ernests Gulbis of Latvia defeated India's Somdev Devvarman 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.
