Los Angeles, CA – Michael Russell upset top-seeded Benoit Paire in the second round of the Farmers Classic on Thursday.
Russell, who resides in Houston, Texas, took down the Frenchman, 7-5, 6-4, by converting six of his seven break-point chances.
Fourth-seeded Nicolas Mahut earned the only break of serve in his match against Italian Paolo Lorenzi en route to a 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) victory. The Frenchman moved on to face Lithuanian qualifier Richard Berankis, who earned a 6-4, 7-5 win over Russia's Igor Andreev.
Also on Thursday, fifth-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium downed Austrian Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-3, and No. 6 Marinko Matosevic of Austria took out German Tobias Kamke 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.
Ernests Gulbis of Latvia defeated American Mardy Fish in last year's Farmers Classic final.
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