He said he felt pressure to play with his injuries because of ATP Tour rules, including a ranking and bonus pay system that penalizes players who withdraw from tournaments.”I’m angry with the ATP,” Safin said “They don’t think about me. They don’t care what’s going on with me.”If Safin plays in all nine Tennis Masters Series events this year, including Ericsson, he’ll earn a dlrs 1.05 million bonus. If he misses one event, the bonus drops by dlrs 700,000.The Russian said he’ll return to Europe for treatment and isn’t sure when he’ll play again. With rest, he said, his injuries could take up to a month to heal.American Andy Roddick, 18, notched the biggest win of his brief career, beating 1998 champion Marcelo Rios 6-4, 6-1. Roddick’s opponent Sunday will be three-time champion Pete Sampras, who lost his serve four times, but still beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.”Obviously, Andy has a huge serve and is the up-and-coming young American that we’re all looking at,” said Sampras, who is seeded fourth “He’s going to come out firing away with nothing to lose He’ll have his time in the future. Hopefully, he’ll wait a couple more days.”Seeded players had opening-round byes and took the court for the first time Friday Winners in men’s play included No 5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No 7 Lleyton Hewitt, No 12 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No 14 Thomas Enqvist and No 15 Sebastien Grosjean.No.

9 Tim Henman lost to Fabrice Santoro 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.In women’s play, third-seeded Venus Williams shook off a recent bout with knee tendinitis and accusations that she ducked a match against her sister, beating Miriam Oremans 6-2, 6-0.Williams withdrew at Indian Wells last week shortly before her semifinal match against sister Serena, and fans reacted by booing the family. But there were only cheers from the Key Biscayne crowd for Venus Williams, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens and won the tournament in 1998 and 1999.”I love this place,” she told fans in an on-court interview after the match “I feel confident It’s like my home.”No 1 Martina Hingis beat Rita Grande 6-2, 6-2 Other winners included No 6 Amanda Coetzer, No 8 Nathalie Tauziat, No 10 Anke Huber and No 14 Justine Henin No. 12 Magdalena Maleeva lost to Marta Marrero 6-4, 6-3.Williams wore a bandage on her ailing right knee, but showed no effects from the injury. She chased down balls at the net and moved well along the baseline, hitting a running, lunging, forehand crosscourt winner in the second game.Williams said she considered not playing, but she cut back on practice this week, and the knee responded to treatment that included ice and stretching.”I felt a lot better,” she said “Fortunately, I didn’t have to run too hard or run too fast. I’m feeling good.”The stadium crowd, which included Williams’ parents, brother, nephew and niece, cheered lustily when she was introduced.”I did wonder how it would be today, but then I also knew that I am in Florida,” she said. “I felt it would be supportive.”Results from the hardcourt Master Series Ericsson Open with a $3.4 million purse for men and a $2.72 million purse for women (seedings in parentheses):Men, Singles, Second RoundJuan Balcells, Spain, def. Marat Safin (2), Russia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.Pete Sampras (4), United States, def.

Nicolas Kiefer, Germany, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5), Russia, def. Albert Costa, Spain, 7-6 (6), 6-3.Lleyton Hewitt (7), Australia, def Jacobo Diaz, Spain, 6-3, 6-3.Fabrice Santoro, France, def. Tim Henman (9), Britain, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.Juan Carlos Ferrero (12), Spain, def. Andrei Stoliarov, Russia, 6-4, 6-1.Thomas Enqvist (14), Sweden, def.