PARIS -- Marat Safin calls himself ``good entertainment.''

He spits and he swears, and when things go wrong he vents his anger at inanimate objects: the ball, the net, the court, his racket.

After a particularly unsettling point in his opening match at the French Open on Wednesday, the second-seeded Russian chucked his racket into the stands. That went a bit far, he acknowledged, raising his arms in apology and politely thanking the fan who handed it back to him.

``I was a little bit frustrated,'' Safin said after outlasting French wild-card entry Michael Llorda 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4. ``But then I calmed down,'' he paused to take a deep breath, ``and started to play better.''

Calming down took most of the third set and some of the fourth.

Safin kicked balls, bounced his racket, kicked the clay, spit on it and on several occasions raised his arms to the sky as if to say, ``Why?!''

A bad back didn't help matters. The 22-year-old Safin is recovering from a pinched nerve that forced him to withdraw from the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany, last week.

``I was a little bit scared,'' said the 2000 U.S. Open champion, who repeatedly rubbed his back between points. ``That's why I didn't really serve well for the first two sets.''

It was midway through the third set when Safin summoned his confidence and his power game, firing off serves that reached 125 mph.

He botched two set points in the third-set tiebreaker but still managed to seal it when Llorda double faulted.

Up 5-3 in the fourth, Safin rushed the net and missed an easy return. He threw down his racket, approached the net and shook it a few times, then walked away muttering.

Safin also objected to movement in the stands, repeatedly waiting at the baseline with hands on hips for fans to take their seats.

The stadium was packed with schoolchildren, who have Wednesdays off in France. The mostly partisan crowd chanted for Llorda, ranked 104th, whose two other appearances at the French Open also ended in first-round exits.

``Kids are kids. You can't blame them,'' Safin said, adding that his match was ``good entertainment for them.''

``I think if people are coming, they're enjoying watching tennis,'' he said. ``It makes me happy.''

One French fan must have made him particularly happy at match point.

A lone child's voice broke the silence before Llorda's serve. ``Safin -- Champion,'' rang through the packed stadium.

Safin returned the serve and took the match with a forehand winner.