ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Seeded Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland were first-round losers Monday at the $1 million St. Petersburg Open.
Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen upset third-seeded Mirnyi 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, and Czech Robin Vik defeated sixth-seeded Nieminen 6-4, 6-4 in indoor play.
A pair of Russians also lost on Day 1, as Austrian Jurgen Melzer beat Vadim Davletshin 6-3, 6-4 and Frenchman Cyril Saulnier beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-2.
In other first-round play, France's Florent Serra defeated veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4 and Romanian Andrei Pavel beat Czech Jiri Vanek 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
The 2005 St. Petersburg champ will earn $142,000. This week's top seeds are Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Swede Thomas Johansson.
