Another seed did fall in St Petersburg as Fabio Fognini retired when he was 3-6 3-5 down to world no.112 Michael Przynieszky because of a foot injury.
After an incredible run during this summer when Fabio won 2 back to back tournaments (Stuttgart, Hamburg) and he reached a final in Umag, the Italian managed to win only 2 matches out of 6 to crash out in the first round in Cincinnati and the US Open and to lose in the second round in Montreal and now in St. Petersburg.
Seeded no.6, Mad Max Gulbis at least survived this top players’ debacle to win a tricky 3rd setter against world no.302 Jurgen Zopp to win 6-3 1-6 6-3 (match stats). Ernest will play Bautista-Agut in the quarters.
Finally we have a surprising Tursunov that at 30 years of age is playing one of his best tennis to reach the quarters and play Joao Sousa for a place in the seminal. Head to head is 1-0 for Tursunov.
