(Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)
St. Petersburg Open—Russia
No. 3 seed Viktor Troicki was ousted in first round action on Monday, losing to journeyman Karol Beck 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4.
Troicki, who lost his 11th first round match of the season, struck 10 aces and won 83 percent of his first serve points while falling to 30-27 on the year.
Beck, who improved his year-to-date record to 4-6, broke Troicki's serve in the seventh game of the third set, closing out the 10th game of the set at love.
The two hour and 33 minute win by Beck will likely assist top seed Mikhail Youznhy in his efforts of taking home his second consecutive title in Russia. Youzhny was slated to meet Troicki in the semifinals.
Beck will now face Bjorn Phau in the second round, after the German easily disposed of wildcard recipient Stanislav Vovk 6-3, 6-2.
Phau, who is currently ranked No. 110 in the world, controlled every facet of his one hour an 18 minute victory over his No. 1216 ranked opponent.
Phau won 79 percent of his total service points, while converting on four of seven break point opportunities.
Vovk, who is an 18-year-old Russian prospect, fell to 0-3 in his career and will now head back to the Challenger circuit to build up his ranking.
Phau and Beck have never met on the ATP World Tour.
Elsewhere, the day's final match will see former top 10 player Rainer Schuettler face Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Schuettler, who is 10 years the senior of Istomin, at 33, will take a 16-27 win-loss record against his No. 101 ranked opponent.
Schuettler has contemplated retirement after this season and will assess his year after the Paris Masters 1000.
Istomin recently made the third round of the US Open, his best Grand Slam to date.
With main draw action beginning on Sunday, No. 2 seed Victor Hanescu and talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis are already safe in the second round.
Hanescu, who had lost sixth straight matches on tour coming into St. Petersburg, defeated Teimuraz Gabasvili 6-1, 6-2 in 59 minutes. Hanescu's serve was dominant in disposing of Gabasvili, striking four aces while winning 90 percent of his first serve points.
Hanescu will now meet the winner of Fabio Fognini or Illya Marchenko in round two action.
Gulbis, who has had an absolutely atrocious year, defeated the formidable challenge of Florian Mayer, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Gulbis improved to 19-25 on the year and will now face either No. 4 seed Jeremy Chardy or Russian wildcard Petru-Alexandru Luncanu.
Tuesday's order of play will feature:
Chardy vs. Luncanu, Igor Andreev vs. Potito Starace, and Evgeny Korolev vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Bank Austria Tennis Trophy—Vienna
No. 5 seed Nicolas Almagro battled past Peter Luczak on Monday, while preventing his four straight loss at the event from taking place.
Almagro was forced to hit 20 aces and win 77 percent of his first serve points during the 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory. The Spaniard, who thrives on the outdoor clay, improved to 28-21 on the season, following a second round defeat in Shanghai to Robin Soderling.
Almagro, who was in danger of losing in straight sets to his Australian opponent, found his grit just in time, capturing the second set with a convincing tiebreak win, only to book his second round place with routine third set victory.
Almagro will next face Wayne Odesnik, who improved to 10-12 on the year by defeating Lukas Rosol 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8).
The close encounter featured 10 aces by either player, with Odesnik winning slightly more total service points at 67 percent to 62 percent, while using his flat baseline game to persevere in the highly contested tiebreak.
Almagro and Odesnik have never met on the ATP World Tour.
Elsewhere, big serving Daniel Brands handed Robert Kendrick his 16th loss of the season, defeating the American 7-6 (6), 7-5 in first round action.
Brands, who avenged a five set loss to Kendrick at the French Open earlier his year, withstood 16 aces and saved two break points in advancing to only his fifth second round of the season.
The 6'5" Deggendorf native improved to 7-4 this year and will next face top seed Marin Cilic or qualifier Alejandro Falla in round two.
Cilic will be aiming for this third tour title of the season in Vienna this week.
Romanian Victor Crivoi prevented Jan Henrych from picking up his 11th win of the season, defeating the Czech player 6-3, 6-3.
Crivoi, whose year highlights have included defeating James Blake and Fabio Fognini, won 84 percent of his first serve points, while committing four double faults.
Crivoi will next meet either No. 4 seed Philipp Kohlshreiber or Deiter Kindlemann in round two.
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