Defending champion Sergiy Stakhovsky lost in the first round to Germany's Benjamin Becker 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, and top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny advanced at the St. Petersburg Open on Wednesday.
Youzhny handled Daniel Brands of Germany 6-4, 6-1.
Fifth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who won his maiden title at the Kremlin Cup on Sunday, also was eliminated 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 by German veteran Rainer Schuettler.
The 10th-ranked Youzhny never faced a break point against Brands. The 2004 champion lost only three points on his serve, breaking Brands five times.
''It was a quick match and I played rather good, making few mistakes,'' Youzhny said.
Stakhovsky saved a match point and broke Becker in the 12th game of the second set to stay in the match. But Becker never gave the second-seeded Ukrainian a chance in the third set, losing only six points on his serve.
''It's always difficult to come and defend your title,'' Stakhovsky said. ''I could have won the match, but the chances I had, I didn't use them properly and the match was over. I cannot say that I played badly but he left me no chances after a break in the third set.''
After trading sets with Troicki, Schuettler turned the match his way in the third set. The former top-five player, currently ranked 103rd, saved five break points in the sixth game. Schuettler, the 2001 runner-up, then won three more games to wrap up the win after 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Troicki said he felt tired after playing in singles and doubles finals in Moscow.
''I had some chances in the match but I didn't play good,'' said Troicki. ''My game was defensive. I tried to be focused on my game but it didn't work at some moments, while Schuettler played good, especially in the end of the match.''
In the second round, third-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who lost to Stakhovsky in the final in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, in June, beat American Michael Russell 6-2, 7-5, and fourth-seeded Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-2.
Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, who ousted Stakhovsky in the second round of the Kremlin Cup last week, defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6 (5), 6-4.
