Third seed Max Mirnyi was the major casualty on the first day of the St Petersburg Open as he went down to Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen on Monday. The Belarussian let a lead slip as Carlsen battled to a 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 victory.
"I was in top form today but Kenneth made the deciding break in the third set and won," said Mirnyi.
"We play a similar style of tennis and it was a tough mission for either of us to win today."
Czech Robin Vik beat sixth seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4 6-4, while Florent Serra battled past Jonas Bjorkman 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version