Safin was followed through the exit door at the Nasdaq Open by fifth-seeded Spaniard Carlos Moya.
While Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was buried 6-0, 6-0 by Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova staged a superb rally to smother the challenge of Alicia Molik and win the $600,000 Qatar Open.
Maria Sharapova beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-4 in the semi final to set up a title clash with Australian Alicia Molik.
Conchita Martinez rallied from a set down to beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the first round of the Qatar Open.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
The US Open champion has made herself available for Fed Cup team for the first time.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova has recovered from the illness that forced her to pull out of the Paris Open.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova beat injury-hampered Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 to win the Pan Pacific Open on Sunday.
Serena Williams fought back from the brink of defeat to oust fourth seed Maria Sharapova 2-6, 7-5, 8-6.
The Wimbledon champion crushed China's Li Na 6-0, 6-2 to become the fifth Russian woman to reach the fourth round.
Sharapova would stop playing for Russia in the Fed Cup if the 17-year-old Wimbledon champion was invited to join the team next year.
Anastasia Myskina refused to back down on Thursday after saying she would not play for Russia if Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova joined the team.
While some say the five-times Grand Slam champion, initially banned for two years after testing positive for Meldonium, has done her time some fellow players are angry the red carpet is being rolled out.
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The International Cricket Council will conduct random dope tests during the World Twenty20 Championship in India, which is a regular practice in all ICC events, Tournament Director M V Sridhar said on Thursday. "The random dope tests have been a part of ICC events for a long time. Random dope tests are performed at all ICC events and it is not a new phenomenon," Tournament Director M V Sridhar told PTI. Sridhar clarified that a series of drug scandals that have recently rocked the sporting world, including tennis star Maria Sharapova's revelation, has not prompted the ICC to take this step as dope tests have been in practice since 2011. "I have never said that it is being done because of drug test failures as this has been a practice for a long time," Sridhar insisted. "ICC events have had dope tests since 2011. They (other sports) have their own anti doping agency which performs as ICC is not part of WADA and cricketers have not signed any whereabouts clause. "For the record, ICC had performed random dope tests at 2011 World Cup, T20 editions in 2012 and 2014. There are times when these dope tests are done during training sessions," Sridhar added.
Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova eased past Luxembourg's Anne Kremer 6-0 6-2 to reach the final.
The Wimbledon champions beat Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-1 to enter the semi-finals of the Hansol Korea Open.
The Russians will clash in the semi-finals of the China Open.
Svetlana Kuznetsova powered to her first Grand Slam title by beating fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the U.S. Open.
A stone-faced Sharapova was left to ponder a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing that proved once again Williams has all the answers when the pair meet on court.
Maria Sharapova powered into the semi-final with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Russian rival Anastasia Myskina at the Nasdaq-100 Open
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