His ascent up the rankings-ladder has stuttered over the last few years—his current World No 27 casting an aloof shadow on his once No 1 status. But his reported climbing adventure upon the world’s sixth highest mountain — the 8,201-metre snow-capped boulder Cho Oyu—has plunged the Kingfisher Mumbai Open into certain depression, with the maverick’s pull-out depriving the city’s showpiece tennis tournament of its pre-event excitement. Tournament director Gaurav Natekar, however, maintains that the Russian’s no-show is not owing to any such expedition. “It’s not because of the mountaineering that’s been spoken about. He has pulled out because of a wrist injury,” Natekar said, adding that Safin has also asked out of Tokyo and home tournament Moscow. But contradicting reports suggest the 2005 Australian Open champion is part of an eight-member Russian expedition which is due to leave Nepal on Friday, ruling him out of this month’s Davis Cup semi-final. Natekar’s immediate concerns, though, are to track down players who can be brought down to Mumbai for an event which has Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis on its entry list.
