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Russian Safin, a former world No. 1 on the men's tennis tour and a two-time Grand Slam tournament winner, rallied back from a two-set deficit to down Thomas Berdych 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

The match lasted four hours and drew loud cheers from a partisan Russian crowd.

The day ended even after Czech Stepanek easily beat Igor Andreev 6-3 6-2 6-4.

"I came to the match with a clear tactic", Stepanek told the BBC in London. "I knew I had to make the rallies as short as possible and play as aggressively as possible. I didn't let him into the match."

In Saturday's doubles, Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny face Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner, and in Sunday's reverse singles, Andreev meets Berdych and Safin plays Stepanek.

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