Early exit for Rusedski

Rusedski's run of poor form continues

British number two Greg Rusedski has been knocked out of the St Petersburg Open in Russia.

Rusedski fell in the second round to Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-7 4-6.

Mirnyi, nicknamed the Beast, continued his good form following his first appearance in an ATP final last week at Stuttgart.

And the 24-year-old maintained his 100% record against Rusedski, having beaten him in their only previous meeting last year at the Indian Wells.

Mirnyi, who won 6-4 6-4 in that match, proved just as stubborn this time, winning a thrilling first-set tie-break in which both players held set-points.

Mirnyi, who has climbed to 30th in the Champions Race after his performance in Stuttgart, edged it 14-12.

The second set was more straightforward, and Mirnyi now faces a quarter-final meeting with Rainer Schuttler of Germany who beat Daniel Vacek 6-2 6-4.

Second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov needed two tie-breaks to defeat fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (1/7) 7-6 (8/6) 7-5.

Russian third seed Marat Safin also had a tough time against Alberto Martin of Spain before finally prevailing 6-7 (6/8) 6-4 7/6 (8-6).

Austria's Stefan Koubek went through against Andrei Medvedev of the Ukraine, 7-6 (7/3) 6-2.

Raced

In the Stockholm Open, defending champion Thomas Johansson advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-1 5-7 6-3 win over Cedric Pioline.

The Swede raced to a quick 5-0 lead and won the first set in just 24 minutes.

"It went so fast," Johansson said. "It went too easy.

"I played really well and hardly missed a shot, while he played really bad and missed a lot.

Johansson will now face Finnish qualifier Jarkko Nieminen, who has not dropped a set in five matches.

Tim Henman's chances of playing in the Masters Cup were boosted when Chile's Marcelo Rios beat Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 6-4.

The Frenchman, seeded second in Sweden, is one of the players Henman must overhaul to qualify for lucrative end-of-season event.

Dutch sixth seed Sjeng Schalken also made the last eight, beating Australia's Wayne Arthurs 6-4 6-3.

Three-time Stockholm Open champion Thomas Enqvist, seeded fifth, ousted 17-year-old Robin Soderling in an all-Swedish match 7-5 6-3.

Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic beat another Swede, Magnus Gustafsson, 6-3 3-6 6-3.