No. 1 Murray, No. 3 Verdasco, Safin advance in Russia; Davydenko withdraws

Fresh off a title at last week’s Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid, No. 1 seed and defending champion Andy Murray (pictured) defeated Serbian Viktor Troicki on Wednesday, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the second round at the St. Petersburg Open in Russia. The 21-year-old who reached the finals at this year’s US Open smashed four aces while winning 24 of 26 points on his first serve throughout the match. In the 69-minute match, the Scot was able to break serve on three occasions while Troicki was unsuccessful on his lone break point chance. Murray, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, improves to 49-14 on the season and will next meet Latvian Ernests Gulbis on Thursday for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The last two players to advance to the second round along with Murray after wins today were No. 8 seed Marat Safin and qualifier Andrey Golubev Kazakhstan. Safin defeated Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-2, 6-4, in 68 minutes. Safin hammered nine aces and was able to break serve four different times, while Stakhovsky only hit one ace and could only break serve once on four opportunities. The former two-time St. Petersburg champion improved his career record to 17-4 at this event and will next face Golubev in the second round.

Golubev upset World No. 107 Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-1, 6-4, to earn his third ATP level win of the season. Golubev smashed a remarkable 14 aces while Rochus only came up with one ace throughout the match. The Kazakhstan native lost only five points on his first serve and was able to break serve four times. The Belgian falls to 13-25 on the season after this afternoon’s loss.

Third-seed and 2007 finalist Fernando Verdasco of Spain need just over an hour to dispatch wild card entrant Karlis Lejnieks, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals. The lefty was able to win 89 percent of first serve points, while dropping only six points on his second serve. The 24-year-old advances to his eighth quarterfinal of the season. Currently holding onto a 44-25 record, the Spaniard will next meet German Rainer Schuettler for a spot in the semifinals. Schuettler ended Dominik Hrbaty’s tournament with a, 6-3, 6-3, defeat in 67 minutes. Currently ranked No. 340 in the world, Hrbaty has been struggling to find his old Top 15 form since injuring his elbow during the 2007 season.

Other news making noise in St. Petersburg was the withdrawal of second-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Davydenko defeated Australian Chris Guccione, 6-4, 6-4, on Tuesday, but had to withdraw from his second round match on Wednesday with a left wrist injury. His second opponent Michail Elgin, a Russian wild card, now advances to the quarterfinals due to Davydenko’s withdrawal.