Canas cuts off Safin's chance of being No 1
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Your support makes all the difference.Guillermo Canas upset the No 2 seed, Marat Safin, 7-5, 6-2 yesterday to advance to the semifinals of Tennis Masters Canada in Toronto.
Safin, who won this tournament two years ago, became the favorite when the No 1, Lleyton Hewitt, lost in the first round Monday. But Canas played smart tennis, while Safin made mistakes. Safin made 19 unforced errors in the first set. The 22-year-old Russian grew angrier during the match, cursing and raising his racket as if to slam it to the court.
Safin felt he needed to win this title if he was to overhaul the Australian Hewitt as world No 1 but fell short of his objective as an eight-match winning streak on the Toronto hardcourts came to an end.
With the first set headed towards a tie-break, Canas hit a cheeky drop shot that just cleared the net cord to give the Argentinian the break and the set.
As courtside temperatures once again soared to around 40C, the hot-tempered Safin began to lose control, contestign line calls and slamming his racket into the court when Canas recorded an early break in the second to take control 3-1.
Albert Porta, of Spain, moved into the semi-finals of the San Marino ATP tournament, dismissing the Croatian Zeljko Krajan 6-3, 6-2. Portas, the third seed, has now won three matches on the red clay courts without dropping a set.
In another quarter-final the Argentinian Jose Acasuso, the No 6, who claimed his first victory on the ATP circuit last week in Sopot, Poland, saw off the challenge of theSpaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, surviving a first set tie break to win 7-6, 6-3.
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