Top-seeded Davydenko loses to Safin in 1st round of Kremlin Cup; Radwanska also upset

Davydenko, Radwanska lose at Kremlin Cup

MOSCOW — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland were upset in the first round of the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday.

Davydenko lost to former top-ranked Marat Safin 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, while Radwanska was ousted by Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3.

That means only two players — Jelena Jankovic and Vera Zvonareva — remain in contention for the last spot for next week’s season-ending WTA Championships in Doha.

Jankovic is five points ahead of Zvonareva for the final berth.

Kirilenko, ranked 61st, opened with a break and saved four break points in the eighth game. The 10th-ranked Radwanska dropped serve again to lose the first set. She called for a trainer to treat her left thigh, which was taped at the beginning of the match.

“I was trying because I was still in with a chance for qualifying for Doha,” Radwanska said. “But the surface is so slow here, you need to run a lot to win a point.”

Kirilenko broke decisively in the second game of the second set. She saved a break point in the seventh game before securing her first win in five appearances at her hometown tournament.

“I remembered how to play against her and it helped me a lot today,” said Kirilenko, who ousted Radwanska in the second round of the U.S. Open.

Safin and the sixth-ranked Davydenko used a break apiece to split the first two sets. Safin then broke Davydenko’s for a 3-1 lead in the third.

Davydenko, who won the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, double-faulted twice in a row to set up Safin’s first match point at 5-2. However, Safin wasted that chance and another before sealing the win when Davydenko sailed a forehand wide on the third match point.

“In the beginning of the match I felt I could win it today,” Davydenko said. “But in the middle of the second set I felt I was tired. … And I couldn’t keep my level of tennis in the third set.”

Safin has reached the final of his hometown tournament twice in 11 appearances. This is his last one — Safin has said he will retire at the end of the season.

“I served well and Nikolay had several mistakes in my favor,” Safin said. “But it’s a long and tough road to the final.”

In other women’s first-round games, fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy led Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-4 0-3 before retiring because of a knee injury.

Francesca Schiavone of Italy, seeded eighth, rallied to beat Spanish qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3. Qualifier Evgeniya Rodina beat sixth-seeded Elena Vesnina 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in an all-Russian match.

In the men’s tournament, fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay advanced to the quarterfinals, rallying to beat Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia cruised past Potito Sarace 6-1, 6-1.

Youzhny will face Sergiy Stakhovsky, a Ukrainian qualifier who upset seventh-seeded Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-1.