Safin Really Earns Opener

Not one, but two wheelchairs, were waiting in the corridors of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Open. So much for the last man standing theory.

Instead, there was this question: Would any man be standing after Marat Safin of Russia and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany finished with one another?

Kiefer, his left calf cramping, went down on the court in a fifth-set tiebreaker, writhing in pain. Trainer Bill Norris went to assist, and a concerned Safin came over to see if Kiefer was going to be able to stand. Even veteran tournament official Alan Mills walked out, standing with Safin, who earlier needed medical assistance himself.

Amazingly, Kiefer stood. Awaiting him was match point, and it wasn’t his. He saved one when Safin hit a forehand return out, but succumbed on the second.

The players earned a fitting standing ovation, as the second-seeded Safin won the 4 1/2-hour marathon, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in the first round.

Safin joked that he was hoping Kiefer would quit. “Yes, I was praying for it,” said Safin, who won here in 2000. “Because I couldn’t [play] anymore, and I just wanted to finish this match because it was just terrible.”

With his typical honesty, Safin said he was “scared” in the decisive tiebreaker and declared that he was “choking.”

“How I’m feeling? Dead. Completely dead,” Safin said. “Completely tired.”

Said Kiefer: “I had a bad feeling, but I wanted to stand up. I wanted to finish the match. Then I made a point, I think, ‘Wow, he’s getting nervous too.’ ”

Sheer will got Kiefer back on his feet. Not many of the ailing men could say the same after two unexpectedly injury-riddled days at the Open. Through two days, and not even one round, seven men have retired from their first-round matches because of injuries, tying a Grand Slam record.

One of the seven involved a painful-looking episode in the first-round match between Mark Philippoussis of Australia and Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands. Philippoussis, a finalist here in 1998, went up for an overhead, landed awkwardly and injured his left knee in the fifth game of the fourth set.

He continued for four more games but retired from the match and was not available for comment.

The long Safin-Kiefer match delayed the proceedings on the Stadium Court, making a long day longer for defending champions Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Venus Williams.

“I was sitting in the locker room watching everyone cramp,” said the top-seeded Hewitt, suffering from a cold.

Hewitt opened his title defense with a routine 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Nicolas Coutelot. He saved his sharpest retorts for the ATP Tour, which has fined him more than $100,000 for not submitting to a prematch interview with cable network ESPN at the Cincinnati tournament this month.

“It was all one-sided coming out,” Hewitt said. “It was all lies coming out. So that was probably the most disappointing thing about it. I felt the ATP was sort of riding the wave, as I said before, there were so many guys just making up stories in there, just to throw it in, I guess to save their job.”

The highly anticipated second-round match between No. 11 Andy Roddick and Taylor Dent of Huntington Beach failed to materialize. Though Roddick beat qualifier Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4, in the first round, Dent went out in five sets to Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3.

And so, it seemed as though the men would actually provide all the drama on and off the court. The top women had little trouble. Venus Williams, seeded second, defeated qualifier Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, 6-0, 6-0, in 50 minutes and No. 3 Jennifer Capriati defeated 17-year-old qualifier Bethanie Mattek, 6-0, 6-0, in 44 minutes.

Former champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland, playing her first Grand Slam since the Australian Open in January, nearly went out against Marissa Irvin of Santa Monica. The ninth-seeded Hingis, who won, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, squandered a 4-1 second-set lead.

The tranquil day for the women ended when Capriati walked in the interview room. Her pleasure at the easy victory evaporated when she was asked questions about Richard Williams, the father and coach of Venus and Serena. Capriati was asked about comments he made to Inside Tennis, that she needed to quit cursing on the court and listen to her father, Stefano.

“I have nothing to say about what he says,” Capriati said. “It’s just a waste of time. You can see how ignorant and how disrespectful that sounds. He should just concentrate on his daughters and he’s doing a good job.”

But she had more to say.

“And he gets away with it,” Capriati said. “It’s too bad. It’s no class. I’ve never said anything personal, just about the game itself. I could say things about them, but I’m not going to because I’m not going to lower myself to that.”

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The fledgling Tennis Channel announced that it has secured the broadcast rights to eight professional tournaments next year, including the women’s event at Manhattan Beach in the summer, and the first will be the men’s tour stop in San Jose in February.

Additionally, Andre Agassi has become an investor in the venture.

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At a Glance

Highlights of Tuesday’s play at the $16.17-million U.S. Open tennis championships:

Key results: Men, winners: No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 2 Marat Safin, No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 9 Carlos Moya, No. 11 Andy Roddick, No. 18 Alex Corretja, No. 19 Xavier Malisse, No. 24 Sjeng Schalken, No. 29 Thomas Enqvist and No. 31 Tommy Robredo. Losers: No. 23 Rainer Schuettler, No. 27 Nicolas Lapentti and No. 34 Jarkko Nieminen. Women, winners: No. 2 Venus Williams, No. 3 Jennifer Capriati, No. 6 Monica Seles, No. 7 Kim Clijsters, No. 9 Martina Hingis, No. 10 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 14 Chanda Rubin, No. 16 Magdalena Maleeva, No. 17 Anna Smashnova, No. 18 Ai Sugiyama, No. 21 Lisa Raymond, No. 23 Patty Schnyder, No. 29 Barbara Schett, No. 30 Meghann Shaughnessy and No. 32 Paola Suarez. Loser: No. 28 Eleni Daniilidou

Today’s featured matches: Men--Albert Portas, Spain, vs. Pete Sampras (17); David Sanchez, Spain, vs. Tommy Haas (3), Germany. Women--Serena Williams (1) vs. Dinara Safina, Russia.