Safin troubled by knee problem

A knee injury may force Marat Safin to cut short his grass court season despite a promising first round win at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

The second seed saw off Germany’s Alexander Popp, a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist, 6-3 6-2 in just 57 minutes to clinch his first victory on grass in almost three years.

However, Safin insisted he would “not continue playing through pain”.

“I have been bothered by this knee injury for almost two months and no doctor can tell me exactly what the nature is,” the Russian said. “It’s no fun when you’re out there playing through pain, using pain-killers all the time.”

“Writing off the grass court season is an option, although Wimbledon will give you a lot of points. But maybe I’ll just skip it and use the time to recover should the problems not ease.”

The 2005 Australian Open winner admitted the decision won’t come easy.

“I have no experience in making decisions, especially not successful ones. I almost need a committee,” he joked. “I will definitely wait until the last possible moment.”