Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

Troicki toppled in Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serb Viktor Troicki went by way of a first-round upset Monday at the $750,000 St. Petersburg Open.

Slovakian Karol Beck bounced Troicki in 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4 fashion on the indoor hardcourts at SCC Peterburgsky. The world No. 81 Beck was the 2004 runner-up here in St. Petersburg.

In other Day-2 action, German Bjorn Phau whipped Russian wild card Stanislav Vovk 6-3, 6-2 and Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin erased German Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-4.

British star Andy Murray, who is not defending his titles here this week, won a second straight championship here a year ago by besting Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev in the finale.

This year's top seed is Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who just titled in his native Moscow over the weekend.

The 2009 St. Petersburg titlist will collect $115,150.