Youzhny wins three-set challenge in St. Petersburg Open

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- No. 2-seeded Mikhail Youzhny needed a third set Monday to claim a first-round win at the St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament in Russia.

Youzhny closed strong for a 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-3 against wild-card entrant Aslan Karatsev, who is ranked 334th in the world. Youzhny is 20th.

Youzhny didn't face a break point in the first set but also couldn't finish off any of the three break opportunities he had and Karatsev took the set in the tiebreaker.

But Youzhny went 4-for-4 on break chances the rest of the way to defeat Karatsev. Youzhny ended up winning 69 percent of the points on serve.

Also Monday, Karen Khachanov, another Russian wild card, nipped Victor Hanescu 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) in his first ATP World Tour match and Andrey Golubev rallied for a 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1 decision over Jan-Lennard Struff. Golubev, like Youzhny, lost a set without dropping serve in the match.