Safin through in Halle
(Agenices)
Updated: 2005-06-09 09:13

Second seed Marat Safin had to save a match point before reaching the quarter-finals of the Halle Open on Wednesday when a leg injury forced Fabrice Santoro to retire.

Russian tennis player Marat Safin returns during the first round tennis match against Alexander Popp from Germany at the ATP Gerry Weber Open on Monday, June 6, 2005 in Halle, western Germany. Safin won by 3-6, 2-6. [AP]

Safin, himself struggling with a knee problem, lost the first set 6-3 to the Frenchman who had beaten the Australian Open champion in seven of their previous eight meetings.

The Russian saved a match point in the tiebreak before winning it 9-7 and broke Santoro in the third to go 3-2 up before his opponent was forced out of the pre- Wimbledon grasscourt event.

Safin will play Belgium's Olivier Rochus in the quarters.

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