Safin sinks to new low

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 in Indianapolis.

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 Sri-chaphan 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.

Top seed and defending champion Patty Schnyder of Switzerland crushed American Abigail Spears 6-1 6-0 to storm into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open. Schnyder will next meet ninth-seeded Sania Mirza of India, who advanced with a 6-1 0-6 6-1 win over Finland's Emma Laine.