Safin considers calling it quits

Former world number one Marat Safin vowed to contemplate his future in the game after slumping to a first-round exit at the Paris…

Former world number one Marat Safin vowed to contemplate his future in the game after slumping to a first-round exit at the Paris Masters.

A three-time champion at the event, Safin failed to recover from a dreadful start as he succumbed in straight sets to Argentina's Juan Monaco.

The Russian's game fell apart as he lost the opening set 6-0, but although he showed a marked improvement in the second, Monaco won it 7-4 on a tie-break to set up a second-round match with home favourite and 16th seed Gael Monfils.

Afterwards the 28-year-old said: "It's been an intense last two years - I need a vacation and I need to think.

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"If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over."

The enigmatic Safin has two Grand Slam titles to his name - the 2000 US Open, one of seven titles that year which saw him spend the first two of nine weeks on top of the rankings, and the 2005 Australian Open.