Masters curse to blame for exodus, say Safin, Haas

Marat Safin and Tommy Haas, two of few seeded players left in the Australian Open, think they can explain why an unprecedented number of seeds have fallen so early: It's the curse of the Masters.

The best eight players lined up in Sydney two months ago for the elite, season-ending US$3.7 million Masters Cup.

Two months later and not a single one of them has made it past the second round of the Australian Open.

Masters champion Lleyton Hewitt, who claimed the world number one spot by winning in Sydney, was the biggest upset, beaten in the first round by Spaniard Alberto Martin after a recent bout of chicken pox.

Second seed Gustavo Kuerten, whose number one title Hewitt took from him in Sydney, fell to another little-known player in Julien Boutter of France in the first round.

Soon followed fourth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, fifth seed Sebastien Grosjean and 10th seed Goran Ivanisevic.

Of the other three Masters players, Andre Agassi pulled out injured before hitting a ball, Juan Carlos Ferrero didn't make the trip to Melbourne for the same reason and Pat Rafter has taken his sore shoulder on a long holiday that might turn into retirement.

Russian Safin, the ninth seed, wondered whether the Masters players had had enough time to get ready for the new season after the Sydney event.

"I think they didn't have enough time to rest or to prepare themselves," Safin said after blasting past Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-2, 7-6, 6-1 to secure a place in the third round.

"I think this may be the main reason because everybody who played the Masters, they are out," he said.

Seventh seed Haas -- the second highest seed left in the Open behind Briton Tim Henman -- was in Sydney for the Masters but was there as an alternate in case one of the top eight was injured. None was and Haas didn't make it onto court.

BONUS

"Maybe so far it's a little bit of a bonus that I didn't play...I'm the only guy that went to the Masters and is in the third round," Haas told reporters after crushing French qualifier Jean-Francois Bachelot 6-1 6-2 6-3.

Haas was less pleased in November when Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic, ranked several places lower than him, took his place in the eight-man draw as the highest-ranked winner of a grand slam event in 2000 who had not already qualified.

"At that time when I went to the Masters I still was quite upset because of the new rules," Haas said.

"I was hoping actually that Patrick Rafter would pull out...he was having a lot of shoulder problems but he just kept on playing," he said.