ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Russian wild-card entrant Igor Kunitsyn and the Czech Republic's Lukas Dlouhy posted first-round upsets in the St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament in Russia.
Kunitsyn, a favorite of local fans, was a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 winner Monday over Germany's Bjorn Phau to open his tournament.
Dlouhy rallied from a set down and ousted eighth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In matches playing more to form Monday, fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen, from Finland, swept past Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, 7-5, 6-2, and the Czech Republic's Jan Hernych was pushed to a third-set tiebreaker before topping Russia's Evgeny Korolev, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).
Other first-round winners were South Africa's Wesley Moodie, Italy's Potito Starace and Latvian wild-card entrant Gulbis Hernych.
