The Associated Press

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—Marat Safin hit another low Thursday when he lost to American qualifier Bobby Reynolds 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, fell to 1-5 in 2008. He hasn’t won a title since the 2005 Australian Open, and his ranking has fallen from 56th to 90th since the start of the year.

The 28-year-old Russian said he’s healthy and not tired of tennis.

“If I was tired, I would have stopped a long time ago,” Safin said. “I’m trying, and it doesn’t come out my way. But that doesn’t mean that I have to stop because I’m not winning matches. I enjoy what I’m doing. I have plenty of cash to do what I want to do, so what I want to do is play tennis.”

The latest loss came even though Safin lost serve only once. He led 3-1 in the final tiebreaker, but had five unforced errors in the last eight points.

Safin finished with 46 unforced errors, 12 more than Reynolds.

“Obviously he made a lot of mistakes,” Reynolds said. “I’m more of the type of player that needs those mistakes. I kind of retrieve balls, and then if I have the opportunity I’ll go ahead and take advantage of it.”

Reynolds, ranked 104th, snapped a four-match losing streak.

Also eliminated was Michael Llodra, one of five players with two ATP titles this year. He was beaten by Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).

Dominik Hrbaty’s 12th consecutive appearance at Key Biscayne ended quickly when he lost to 19-year-old Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. The match was the first since the U.S. Open for Hrbaty, who is coming back from elbow surgery.

In women’s play, Ai Sugiyama beat Russian 17-year-old Anastasia Pivovarova 6-3, 7-6 (2). Another Russian, 19-year-old qualifier Alisa Kleybanova, beat Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

Seeded players had first-round byes and begin today.