Tomas Berdych outlasted Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3 2-6 7-6(4) to advance to the quarterfinals at the St.Petersburg Open.
The world No.9 managed to break in the fourth game to lead 3-1 and that was enough for him to win the opening set 6-3. The second set was similar to the first, but this time Kuznetsov broke for a 3-1 lead and managed to hold his nerve to grab the second set 6-2, forcing a deciding set. The decider saw both men keep their cards close to their chest as there were no breaks of serve, resulting in decisive a tiebreak. There was no doubt about who was going to win the tiebreak as Berdych took it 7-4 to advance into the last eight of a tournament for the first time since Toronto in August.
Next for the former grand slam finalist will be Paolo Lorenzi, who beat French qualifier Alexandre Sidorenko 7-6(6) 6-4. Sidorenko couldn’t back up his win against Ramos-Vinolas, as the Italian broke twice to record a solid victory over the world No.255.
Berdych’s triumph occurred on a day when the tournament witness its biggest shock yet. Second seed and defending champion Milos Raonic fumbled against Mikhail Youzhny 2-6 7-6(6) 6-4, suffering his first opening match exit since Beijing last October. The match did start well for the Canadian as he broke Youzhny twice to seize the first set 6-2. Frustratingly the Wimbledon finalist got broken twice, when serving for the match as the second set advanced to a tiebreak. All of the sudden Youzhny took the second set tiebreak 8-6 with the match abruptly slipping away from the world No.6. The frustration affected Raonic’s game as he wasted 10 break point opportunities in the final set. Youzhny took advantage, breaking for a 5-4 lead and holding to take the match in just over 2 hours and 30 minutes.
“It’s only possible in St. Petersburg,” Youzhky joked after grabbing his best win of the season so far.
The Russian will now play fifth seed Alexander Zverev, who beat fellow Nextgen star Daniil Medvedev 6-3 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals. The German broke five times as he sealed his place in the last eight.
There were also wins for seventh seed Viktor Troicki and last year’s runner up Joao Sousa. Troicki beat fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with US Open champion Stan Wawrinka. While Joao Sousa found it a little tougher to put away Andrey Rublev. The Portuguese No.1 beat Rublev 7-6(3) 3-6 6-3 to set up a meeting with fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
