Tennis-Feisty Safin says black eyes were from brawling

PERTH, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A battered-looking Marat Safin on Sunday admitted involvement in a brawl in Moscow last week, but wasted no time declaring he had won the fight.

The fiery Russian stunned fans when he turned up late at the mixed team Hopman Cup sporting two black eyes, but recovered in time to beat Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6 6-4 in his opening match.

"I won the fight, I'm good, I'm ok," the former world number one told reporters.

"I got in trouble in Moscow but it's ok, I can survive."

"It's just a small problem. I wasn't in the right place at the right time," he added, without elaborating.

A bruised and battered Safin saw a doctor when he arrived in Perth and asked organisers to reschedule his match.

"I wasn't sure why he was arriving so late, why he was requesting to play a day later, but now I know why," tournament director Paul McNamee said, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Safin and younger sister Dinara Safina teamed up to beat Italian pair Bolelli and Flavia Pennetta 2-1 in the Group B tie on Sunday. (Writing by Martin Petty in Bangkok; Editing by Peter Rutherford)