St. Petersburg, Russia – Long-time Russian crowd favorite Mikhail Youzhny and last week's Serbian Davis Cup hero Janko Tipsarevic were a pair of upset victims Wednesday at the St. Petersburg Open tennis event.
The second-seeded and former St. Petersburg champion Youzhny was upended by Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in second-round action on the indoor hardcourts at the St. Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex.
Youzhny titled here in 2004 and was the runner-up in 2002 and 2010.
Meanwhile, the third-seeded Tipsarevic succumbed to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in an opening-round affair, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. Tipsarevic propelled the Serbs into the 2013 Davis Cup final by winning a fifth and deciding rubber against Canada in Belgrade on Sunday.
Tipsarevic was the St. Petersburg runner-up two years ago.
Also in the second round, eighth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan overcame Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Golubev was a finalist here in 2008. Istomin will face Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals on Friday.
In other opening-round action in St. Petersburg involving seeds, Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky took out No. 5 Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 6-4, No. 6 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia whipped Russian wild card Mikhail Elgin 6-0, 6-1, and No. 7 Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic got past Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Verdasco was the runner-up here in 2007. Stakhovsky titled here in 2009.
Additional first-round wins came for Pole Michal Przysiezny, Portuguese Joao Sousa and Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk, who topped 2009 St. Petersburg runner-up Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Przysiezny is rewarded with a second-round match against top-seeded and 2012 St. Petersburg runner-up Fabio Fognini of Italy.
The 2013 St. Petersburg titlist will earn $78,000.
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