ATP

• Safin moves on; Youzhny exits St. Petersburg

  
  

  St.

  Petersburg, Russia (Sports Network) - Two-time champion Marat Safin movedintothe quarterfinals, while top-seeded former winner Mikhail Youzhny exited the draw Thursday at the $750,000 St. Petersburg Open.

  The unseeded former world No. 1 Safin was leading fifth-seeded fellow Russian Igor Andreev 6-3, 0-1 when Andreev retired from the second-round affair, citing a left knee injury.

  The2000 and 2001 St.

  Petersburg titlist Safin is making his final appearance here, as he intends to retire from the ATP World Tour at season's end.

  Safin's opponent on Friday will be Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, who was leading Youzhny 6-2, 2-1 when the Russian retired due to a lower back injury. The 2004 St. Petersburg titlist Youzhny was fresh off his title last week in his native Moscow.

  In other second-round play, Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky stopped Russian wild card Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-4 and Igor Kunitsyn handled wild card and fellow Russian Michail Elgin 6-2, 6-3 on the indoor hardcourts at SCC Peterburgsky.

  The other quarterfinals will pit second-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu against Kunitsyn, eighth-seeded Argentine Horacio Zeballos versus Latvian Ernests Gulbis and German Bjorn Phau against Stakhovsky.

  The 2009 St. Petersburg titlist will collect $115,150.

  10/29 14:55:39 ET