Youzhny moves to St. Petersburg 2nd round

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny won his first-round match at the St. Petersburg Open but two seeded players lost Wednesday at the tournament in Russia.

Youzhny took over Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-1 without facing a break point and converted 4-of-6 break-point chances. He lost only three points -- one on a double fault -- in eight service games.

While he moved on, second-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky and No. 5-seeded Viktor Troicki were both ousted in their first-round matches. Benjamin Becker only managed two service breaks but each cost Stakhovsky a set in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 Becker win. Rainer Schuettler handled Troicki 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, getting three breaks in the third set to advance.

No. 3-seeded Janko Tipsarevic claimed a second-round win with a 6-2, 7-5 decision over Michael Russell and Mikhail Kukushkin also made it to the quarterfinals when he beat Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-4.

In other first-round matches Wednesday, fourth-seeded Lu Yen-hsun swept past Potito Starace 6-2, 6-2 and Alexandr Dolgopolov defeated Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.