Safin leads top seeds into third round

Second seed Marat Safin won the battle of champions when he beat title-holder Andrei Pavel 6-3 7-6 (7-4) on Wednesday to lead a parade of top seeds into the third round of the $2.95 million Canada Tennis Masters.

Joining the Russian were third seed Tommy Haas, fourth seed Tim Henman and fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

The only major casualties on another blisteringly hot day at the National Tennis Center were Australian Open champion and ninth seed Thomas Johansson, who fell 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to American Todd Martin, and 16th seed Carlos Moya of Spain.

Moya, one of the hottest players on the tour with back-to-back title wins in Bastad and Umag followed by a run to the semi-finals in Sopot last week, was beaten 7-5 7-5 by former world number one Marcelo Rios of Chile.

Pete Sampras, the 13th seed, received a scare and Andy Roddick took a tongue-lashing but both Americans survived to reach the third round.

Sampras, who played well in his first round win over Wayne Ferreira, appeared out of sorts as he fought to a 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over South Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee, a qualifier ranked 94 in the world with just two Masters Series wins to his credit.

Roddick claimed a 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5) victory but lost some respect when his contest ended in an ugly shouting match and with Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador accusing the 12th seed of faking leg cramps.

Safin, who collected his first Masters Series title two years ago in Toronto, also struggled at times but never appeared in danger against Romanian Pavel.

The highest remaining seed after world number one Lleyton Hewitt crashed out in the opening round on Monday, Safin raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set.

But, as regularly happens with Safin, the big Russian lost concentration, allowing Pavel to take the next three games before regrouping and closing out the set.

SAFIN RALLY

In the second set it was the Romanian who took a 4-1 lead, forcing Safin to rally. The 2000 U.S. Open champion finished off by winning the tie-break to remain unbeaten in his two visits to Toronto.

"I'm coming here to win it again, to win this tournament," said Safin. "You don't think about last year and how he played then.

"You come here, you want to win, it doesn't matter who you play. He simply played well and I was lucky I served well on the important points."

Haas, who picked up his first win since the French Open on Monday, made it two in a row with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over Dutchman Sjeng Schalken.

Distracted by a near fatal motorcycle accident involving his parents in early June, Haas is once more focusing on his tennis now that his mother and father are out of danger.

"I'm a little surprised at how well I've played here," said the German. "I had a big layoff and I didn't expect much here, but I have played two solid matches.

"Still I'm a long way from where I want to be. It's difficult. I wish my parents the best and want them to get well but I have to get back to my life now."

With his serve and volley game working to perfection on the lightning quick Canadian courts, Henman made the hardcourt game look easy as he swept past American James Blake 6-3 6-3 to set up a third round showdown with surprise Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.

"Today I played a really, really good match," said Henman. "I made very few unforced errors and was playing tactically pretty smart.

"If I look back at the matches I've played this year, this is right up there with the best."

Without a win since reaching the Wimbledon final following first round exits at Gstaad and Umag, Argentine Nalbandian continued to enjoy a strong start to the hardcourt season by advancing with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 victory over Spain's Tommy Robredo.

Russian Kafelnikov went through with a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 triumph over Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui.