Seeded players advance in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Seeded players Jeremy Chardy, Igor Andreev and Horacio Zeballos advanced to the second round of the St. Petersburg Open with straight-set victories Tuesday.

The fourth-seeded Chardy defeated qualifier Petru-Alexandru Luncanu 6-2, 6-2, No. 5 Andreev topped Potito Starace 6-4, 6-2 and Zeballos ousted Kazakh qualifier Yuri Schukin 7-6 (9), 6-3.

“It was not that easy to play against my young opponent,” Chardy said. “My steady serve prevented him from breaking me and secured my victory.”

Andreev, who had lost in the opening round in four straight events, including the U.S. Open in September, is looking for his fourth career title.

Robby Ginepri of the United States retired because of a thigh injury while trailing 6-2, 1-0 to Ukraine qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr.

Wimbledon junior champion Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia scored his first victory in an ATP event, rallying past Marcel Granollers 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-4.

“Midway through the second set, I found his weak point — backhand,” Kuznetsov said. “So I tried to play to his left and frequently approached the net. That helped me to break.”

Illya Marchenko beat Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-1, while wild-card Michail Elgin topped Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-3.