Top-Seed Youzhny Drops Out In Second Round At St. Petersburg Open

St. Petersburg, Russia (AHN) – Top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny retired from his second round match Thursday at the St. Petersburg Open, giving the win to Denis Istomin.

Youzhny lost the first set 6-2, and was trailing 2-1 in the second set when he stepped aside due to a back ailment.

Marat Safin, who intends to retire at the end of the year, won under similar circumstances, capturing the first set 6-3 over No. 5 Igor Andreev.

Andreev led in the second set 1-0 when he retired due to a left knee injury.

Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky halted Russian wild card Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-4.

Igor Kunitsyn knocked off fellow Russian Michail Elgin 6-2, 6-3