Ivanisevic ousted but Safin survives at World Indoor

Former champion Goran Ivanisevic became the first seed to crash out of the World Indoor Tournament on Monday, but Russia's Marat Safin edged through a tight encounter to reach the second round.

Ivanisevic suffered a surprise 7-6, 6-4 loss to Swiss qualifier Ivo Heuberger while solid serving from Australian Open finalist Safin helped him to a 7-6 7-6 victory over Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.

Eighth seed Ivanisevic, the 1996 winner, struggled throughout the one hour, 31 minute match as his serve totally broke down. He even came second best in the aces tally, blasting just five to Heuberger's seven.

The Wimbledon champion was twice a break up in the first set but failed to stamp his authority on the match as his 129th ranked opponent ran down almost every ball.

Serving for the set at 6-5, a miscued Ivanisevic forehand over the baseline handed the Swiss journeyman the crucial break back.

Heuberger, who has failed to get past the first round in four previous attempts this year, raced away with the tiebreak 7-3 after being helped by a double fault and a backhand into the net from Ivanisevic.

Heuberger refused to ease up in the second set, earning two break points in the third game. Ivanisevic, however, saved both thanks to a blazing service winner followed by an overhead smash.

But sensing victory, Heuberger's attacking net play gave him the decisive break in the fifth when a frustrated Ivanisevic netted an easy volley.

"I've just played my worst match this year," said the 30-year-old Croatian, who is combining compulsory military service with playing on the men's tour.

"I've always played well at this tournament and have fond memories and I'll remember today as well because of how badly I played.

"I didn't serve well and returned badly. But still I had a lot of chances and couldn't put them away."

Heuberger's next opponent will be the winner of the match between Australian Open semifinalist Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic and Belarussian Max Mirnyi.

LOSING STREAK

Safin's win finally snapped a three-match losing streak he had against Hrbaty.

But the third seed from Russia did not have it all his way during the closely contested clash.

In the first set Safin had to stave off three set points before clinching it himself 7-4 in the tiebreak with some thundering groundstrokes.

Although the former U.S. Open champion rarely ventured to the net in the second, his superior baseline game was enough to tilt the match in his favour.

In the 11th game, the 22-year-old roared back from 0-40 down and then won the resulting tiebreak 7-4.

France's Fabrice Santoro had to work hard to dispose Dutch wildcard Martin Verkerk 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 while Bohdan Ulihrach came up trumps in his clash with Michel Kratochvil.

An out of sorts Santoro was given the run around in the first set by an opponent ranked 103 places below him but rallied to get his serve back on track in the second.

After an early exchange of breaks in the deciding set, world number 27 Santoro finally broke the plucky Verkerk's serve in the ninth game with some blazing returns before clinching the match in the next game.

Czech Ulihrach was the first player to reach the second round after overcoming Kratochvil of Switzerland 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Britain's Martin Lee continued the winning streak for the tournament's qualifiers when he battled past home favourite Sjeng Schalken 7-6, 7-6.

Although the sets were tightly fought, Lee steamrollered Schalken in the tiebreaks, grabbing both 7-0.