Greg Rusedski failed to make the semi-finals of the St Petersburg Open after suffering a battling 6-2 7-6 (8/6) defeat to Thomas Johansson. The Briton struggled in the opening set but improved and challenged the Swedish second seed for much of the second set.
He had set point at 6-5 but lost his serve and Johansson was able to serve out the match to clinch victory.
Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko suffered a heavy 6-1 6-1 loss to German fifth seed Nicolas Kiefer.
Former Australian Open champion Johansson now plays Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, who defeated unseeded Dane Kenneth Carlsen 6-4 6-2.
Elsewhere, Czech Robin Vik upset fourth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 1-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the last four and set up a clash with Kiefer.
MMIX
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Rusedski is just stuck in a neverending cycle of second-round/q-final exits