Rusedski hammers Safin

Rusedski fires another winner

G Rusedski (GB) bt M Safin (Rus) 6-0 7-6

Britain's Greg Rusedski reached his second semi-final of 2001 with a dominant straight sets win over US Open champion Marat Safin.

Rusedski utterly dominated the first set and took it without dropping a game as Safin failed to cope with his kicking serve.

This was his second big win in as many weeks, following his victory over Gustavo Kuerten at the Australian Open.

An extremely pleased Rusedski told BBC Five Live: "It's just great to beat two world number ones.

"Now I'm reaping the benefits of putting in some hard work and it's so much fun again."

Safin broke early in the second and had a point for a 5-2 lead, but the Briton held firm and fought his way back into the set by winning three games on the bounce.

The tie-break seemed to be going Safin's way when a lucky net-cord - his umpteenth in the match - gave him the lead, but Rusedski was in determined form.

He volleyed brilliantly to set up two match points and took the second with another ace down the middle.

New approach

Rusedski had been positive from the outset, relying on the trademark serve but also varying the length on his groundstrokes and the pace of his returns of serve for a deserved win.

These improvements are all part of an intensive reassessment of his game after his slump in form last year.

"I couldn't have imagined playing so well so soon," he said.

"Last year was just struggling every single week, not feeling well and just trying to get through the year.

"I managed to get through it. It wasn't very pretty and it wasn't very enjoyable.

"It's great when you're healthy and you can enjoy your tennis and play well."