Youzhny ousted at Kremlin Cup

Oct 8, 2008 - 7:33 PM MOSCOW (Ticker) -- Mikhail Youzhny endured another quick exit at the the Kremlin Cup.

The third-seeded Russian was upset, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), by countryman Teimuraz Gabashvili in the opening round of the hardcourt event Wednesday.

This was nothing new for Youzhny, who lost in the first round here for the sixth time in 10 appearances.

The 66th-ranked Gabashvili advanced to face unseeded Mischa Zverev, who topped fellow German Denis Gremelmayr.

Youzhny's latest setback here was only part of what proved to be a disastrous Wednesday for seeded Russians.

Just prior to his opener, No. 5 seed Dmitry Tursunov announced that he was withdrawing due to a right shoulder injury, and the final match of the day saw No. 2 Igor Andreev upset, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, by unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

Lucky loser Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan replaced Tursunov and was promptly dismissed, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, by Russia's Igor Kunitsyn.

Fourth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu avoided problems in his first-round match, topping Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-3, 6-2, while fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santoro advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Uzbekistani qualifier Denis Istomin.

First prize is $171,000.