Safin ponders future

Safin is battling for a Masters Cup invitation

Click here for Thursday's results

Marat Safin cruised into the last eight of the Lyon Grand Prix, and then revealed he could split with coach Mats Wilander next season.

The Russian third seed made short work of Israeli qualifier Noam Okun, winning 6-4 6-3, before admitting the partnership might end.

Safin said: "Between his family, his matches on the Senior Tour, Mats is a very busy man and he can only give me 20 weeks a year.

"During the Paris Open, we will sit down and discuss next season. Maybe we'll go on, maybe we'll stop."

Safin appointed former world number one Wilander as his coach this season after a poor run of form following his 2000 US Open title win.

He gained a wild card to play in Lyon in a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the Masters Cup in Sydney, but accepts it is a distant hope.

Bad start

"I'm here to win points - the aim is to make it to the Masters Cup, but, honestly, it looks very far away," he said.

"At best, I'll finish the season in seventh place, at worst I'll be 15th. What really matters is to be in the top three."

Safin made a bad start against Okun, losing his first service game.

Ljubicic shocked Kuerten in the first round

But it was only a hiccup as he broke back in the eighth game before cruising to victory in 69 minutes.

Safin's quarter-final opponent is Max Mirnyi of Belarus, whom he struggled to beat last week in Moscow.

Mirnyi beat Morocco's Hicham Arazi 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.

Safin said: "With Max, it's all or nothing. He can play great, but even he does not know when."

In other second round matches, Ivan Ljubicic continued his good run at the £554,000 event, defeating French qualifier Julien Benneteau 7-5 7-5.

The 22-year-old Croat, who is the surprise package of the tournament, plays Argentina's Gaston Gaudio in the last eight.

Ljubicic stunned triple French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in their first-round match, winning 7-6 6-2.

Spanish second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero booked his place in the quarter-finals with an easy 6-2 6-2 win over Germany's Niclolas Kiefer.

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Results from Thursday's action in the Lyon Grand Prix (numbers in brackets denote seeding):

(3) Marat Safin (Rus) bt Noam Okun (Isr) 6-3 6-4
Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) bt Julien Benneteau 7-7 7-5
(2) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 6-2 6-2
Max Mirnyi (Blr) beat Hicham Arazi (Mor) 7-6 (7/4) 6-2

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