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Tennis

Marat Safin opened his final Kremlin Cup campaign by ousting defending champion Nikolay Davydenko in the first round in Moscow.

Safin was runner-up in last year's final, and he came from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 6-2 and end Davydenko's bid for a fourth title in the Russian capital.

Safin, 29, who retires at the end of the season, produced 10 aces and a better all-round game against his 28-year-old opponent to win in a little under two hours.

Also through into the second round were Evgeny Korolev who beat fellow Russian Igor Kunitsyn 7-6 (6) 6-3 while qualifier Illya Marchenko was 4-1 up in the deciding set when Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin retired with a throat infection to seal a 1-6 6-4 4-1 result.

Russian third seed Mikhail Youzhny thrashed Potito Starace, of Italy, 6-1 6-1 in less than an hour, producing a superb service performance to reach the third round.

Pablo Cuevas, the fifth seed, had a tougher match but prevailed 3-6 6-1 6-4 against Teimuraz Gabashvili.

However, seventh seed Fabrice Santoro crashed out in straight sets to qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.

Stakhovsky hit 11 aces and produced a far more incisive game to win 7-5 6-1 to overcome a deficit of 60 ranking places.

In the women's draw, there was a shock as third seed Agnieszka Radwanska crashed out to Russian Maria Kirilenko.

The Pole had little success on her serve with Kirilenko claiming a straightforward 6-3 6-3 victory against an opponent ranked more than 50 places above her.

Fourth seed Flavia Pennetta also left the tournament although she was forced to retire while a set up against Agnes Szavay, the Hungarian going through 4-6 3-0.

Sixth seed Elena Vesnina was another casualty, as qualifier and fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina triumphed 6-1 3-6 6-2, the 20-year-old making nonsense of the 105 places between the pair in the world rankings.

Eighth seed Francesca Schiavone, the world number 24, came from a set down to claim a 6-7 (2/7) 6-4 6-3 victory over Nuria Llagostera Vives in two and a half hours in a match littered with errors by both players including eight double faults apiece.

The other match today saw Olga Govortsova beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 6-4.