Never again, says Safin

RUSSIAN 19th seed Marat Safin crashed out of Wimbledon in his tournament opener yesterday – and then vowed he would never return to the All England Club.

He was defeated 4-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-1) by countryman and tournament debutant Dmitry Tursunov despite winning the first set and enjoying a blistering start to the second.

But Safin, watched by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, suffered yet another of the lapses in concentration that have plagued his career and Tursunov took full advantage.