Davydenko ousted from Kremlin Cup

MOSCOW, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko dropped two tie-breakers Wednesday and was eliminated from the $1 million Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow.

Pablo Cuevas edged Davydenko 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) in second-round play. Each player suffered a service break in each set but Cuevas was able to hang on through the tie-breakers and advance.

He'll draw fifth-seeded Radek Stepanek in the quarterfinals. Stepanek, who had 11 aces, handled Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2 without dropping serve in his Wednesday match.

Another second-round result saw fourth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis top Potito Starace 6-4, 6-3 in a brisk 62 minutes. Baghdatis lost only 12 points in 10 service games, nearly half coming in a second-set game in which he saved the only break point he faced.

The first round was completed Wednesday with Horacio Zeballos taking out No. 8-seeded Janko Tipsarevic, last year's Kremlin Cup runner-up, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Zeballos had only two break-point situations to deal with after the first set.