THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Veteran Dominik Hrbaty upset sixth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open on Monday.
The 340th-ranked Slovak veteran capitalized on Tursunov's weak serve and poor return to wrap up the win in less than an hour.
The Russian won the opening game at love but Hrbaty then won six consecutive games to take the opening set. The 26th-ranked Tursunov had a break in the second game of the second set, but Hrbaty then won five games in a row to close out the match.
"I had a sore shoulder," said Tursunov. "I pulled out at the Kremlin Cup and had a good first set in Madrid last week but then ended the match with the same poor serve as here today."
In other first-round action, Victor Hanescu of Romania had 12 aces in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Evgeny Korolev of Russia while German veteran Rainer Schuettler ousted Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-3.
Schuettler broke Kunitsyn two times in the first set and made a decisive break in the sixth game of the second for a 4-2 lead. He served the match out to love.
"I did all I could to stay in the match," said Kunitsyn. "'He gave me several chances but I failed to capitalize."
Kunitsyn won the Kremlin Cup for his maiden title a week ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment