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MOSCOW: Home favourite and third-seed Mikhail Youzhny cruised into the ATP Kremlin Cup second round with a straight-set win over Horacio Zeballos of Argentina on Monday.
The 27-year-old Russian, 30th in the ATP rankings, came through his first ever meeting with Zeballos 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).
Youzhny started confidently producing three breaks in the opening set which he took in 26 minutes.
In the second set Zeballos, ranked 54th in the world, broke early to clinch a 3-1 lead but Youzhny broke back in the sixth to level at 3-3.
In the tie-break Youzhny's greater accuracy prevailed as he won the set and the match in one hour 26 minutes.
"In the first set I was confident and fresh, while he (Zeballos) made too many mistakes," Youzhny said.
"I took seven consecutive games but then lost my concentration for a while and lost a serve, while he was serving and returning much better. But it was my only mistake in the match and I managed to win the tie-break."
Fifth seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, 52nd in the ATP rankings, also advanced into the second round beating Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-2.
In the WTA section local favourite and fifth seed Nadia Petrova ousted unheralded 17-year-old compatriot Yana Buchina, who is 949th in the world, 6-2, 6-0 in their first ever meeting.
Monte Carlo resident Petrova, 27, looked in command from the start breaking wild card Buchina's serve twice in the opening set after 31 minutes on court.
In the second set Petrova underlined her domination on the hardcourts of Moscow's Olympic indoor stadium breaking her opponent for a 48-minute win.
"The match was so short and she (Buchina) was so nervous that she wasn't going her way," said Petrova, who finished runner-up here in 2006.
"For me the event's opening match is usually uneasy and I also committed too many own mistakes today. I need to keep myself concentrated throughout the match to gain success here."
In the second round Petrova will face unseeded Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, who saw off 2006 champion Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in one hour 17 minutes. - AFP/de
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