Safin loses to 512th-ranked player

The fading career of former world number one Marat Safin reached a new low on Wednesday when he was beaten in straight sets by the 512th-ranked Wesley Whitehouse at the RCA Championships.

Safin, who has been struggling to recover from a knee injury, went down 6-1, 6-4 to the South African qualifier, who claimed only his second ATP win of the year.

"I never felt comfortable on the court," Safin told reporters. "He played well and I was never in the match."

The formerly swaggering Safin dropped to 12-12 on the season, his last victory coming over Greg Rusedski in the Wimbledon first round.

"This kind of a loss hurts, I don't really know what to do. You can only look for better times. I'm not even close to my tennis."

Safin's Russian compatriots Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn both advanced into the third round.

Seventh seed Tursunov beat Benjamin Becker 6-3, 5-7, 2-1 as the German retired with heat exhaustion. Number 15 Kunitsyn defeated Lars Burgsmuller 7-5, 6-2.

Top seed James Blake ended a three-year sequence without a victory at the tournament by eclipsing Thailand's Danai Udomchoke 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan began his hardcourt campaign by coming out on top in a serving duel with Australian qualifier Wayne Arthurs, winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.

The second-round victory left the eighth seed breathing easier following seven first-round losses on clay and a first-round defeat at Wimbledon.

"It could have gone either way," Srichaphan told reporters. "It was just a few points here and there. I think of this as the start of a new season for me.

"I hope I can do much better than I've done so far."

Paradorn, ranked 40th, improved his 2006 mark to 15 wins and 16 defeats as he produced 16 aces on a steamy afternoon.

But his effort was dwarfed by 29 cannonballs fired over by Arthurs, at 35 the oldest man in the field.

German fifth seed Tommy Haas defeated Swiss George Bastl 6-3, 6-3.

Belgian fifth seed Xavier Malisse beat Korea's Hyung-taik Lee 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 but number six Dominik Hrbaty lost to Dane Kenneth Carlsen 6-3, 6-2.