British number two Greg Rusedski clinched a 6-4 6-4 victory over Dmitry Tursunov in the St Petersburg Open. The seventh seed, a semi-finalist last year, had the measure of his Russian opponent from the start of this first-round encounter.
The 32-year-old broke Tursunov once in each set to secure his spot in the second round of the tournament.
Rusedski will next play Kevin Kim of the United States who was a 6-1 4-6 7-5 victor over the Czech player Ivo Minar.
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko beat Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-1 to join Rusedski in the second round and boost his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Masters Cup for the first time.
Fifth seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, Czech Robin Vik and Dane Kenneth Carlsen all booked places in the quarter-finals by winning their second-round matches.
MMIX
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