Paris - Marat Safin made his long-planned exit from tennis in sentimental style Wednesday, losing a match to Juan Del Potro 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 but feted in a goodbye ceremony on court featuring some of his rivals from the past. The two-time Grand Slam winner, 29, ended his time in tennis with the second-round loss at the Paris Masters, with a farewell presentation in front of a holiday crowd in excess of 10,000 giving the mercurial and personable Russian a standing ovation.
In a surprise move by organizers, some of Safin's former colleagues were brought on to court including ex-French Open winner Albert Costa, Swiss Marc Rosset, and Younes El Aynaoui. Current ATP players who joined in included Novak Djokovic, Ivo Karlovic, and Gilles Simon.
Other players gave video tributes on the giant screen hanging over the court at the Bercy arena, with testimonials from Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko included.
"This day will stand out in my memory," said the visibly moved Safin, whose exit from tennis will mean the loss of one of the sport's greatest characters and plain-speakers.
This is where all of my memories are in one box - my wins, my losses, everything.
"One door is closing for me but hopefully another one is opening. If I can have just 10 per cent of the success I have had in tennis in my next career, I will be satisfied,
"I have had many tough moments on the court and these will help me in new things."
Amid the emotion, play continued in the race to fill the last two spots in the eight-man season-ending World Tour Finals starting November 22 in London.
Robin Soderling kept in the race through a defeat of Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) with the Swede on provisional ninth in the race behind Davydenko and Spain's Fernando Verdasco.
Last week's Basle winner Djokovic, the third seed, reached the third round over Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 7-5.
