There are six Russians in second round action Thursday at the St. Petersburg Open, led by top seed and No. 2 Russian Mikhail Youzhny, No. 5 seed Igor Andreev and 2000-01 champion Marat Safin.

Leading off the order of play is Russian teenage wild card Andrey Kuznetsov against Ukraine qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky followed by Igor Kunitsyn and wild card Michail Elgin in an all-Russian battle.

In the third match, Youzhny,who won the title in St. Petersburg in 2004 and captured the Kremlin Cup last Sunday, takes on Denis Istomin  of Uzbekistan. In the evening session, Safin takes on countryman Andreev for the third time (tied 1-1).

     
THURSDAY SECOND ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Order of Play

(WC) Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) vs (Q) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)   First Meeting

Kuznetsov FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 22, 1991
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 414

• Kuznetsov, 18, is playing in his second career ATP World Tour tournament...On Tuesday, he rallied past Spaniard Marcel Granollers 67(4) 76(6) 64 to win his first ATP World Tour match…Last week in Moscow, he made his main draw debut and lost in the first round to veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in three sets
• The young Russian has jumped from No. 769 at the end of last year to No. 414 this week with success in Futures events…He has won three titles, in Italy #14 in June, Russia #4 in August and Kazakhstan #5 three weeks ago...Also a runner-up at Egypt #4 in March
• He played in three Italian Challenger tournaments, losing in the first round in each
• In July he captured the junior Wimbledon title, defeating American Jordan Cox in three sets...In February, he won a junior title in Tunisia without dropping a set...This week he is No. 8 in the junior world rankings 
• He was born in Tula, Russia, and now resides in Balashikha…Coached by his father, Alexander

Stakhovsky FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: Doha (l Murray); Zagreb (l Troicki); Moscow (l Youzhny)
YTD W-L: 12-14
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: January 6, 1986
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 93

• Stakhovsky, 23,  the top player from Ukraine at No. 93 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, qualified for the second straight week...He defeated No. 6 seed Evgeny Korolev 64 63 in the first round on Tuesday
• He is making his third tournament appearance (2-2 record), having lost in the second round in 2005 and first round last year
• In Moscow last week he reached his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, falling to eventual champion Mikhail Youzhny
• He has an 12-14 record in ATP World Tour level play this season and 15-12 in Challenger action, reaching the final in Mons earlier this month (l. Tipsarevic)
• He started the year by reaching the quarter-finals in Doha with wins over C. Rochus and Peya before falling to eventual champion and World No. 4 Andy Murray...Then advanced to the quarter-finals at Zagreb in February with wins over Hrbaty and Karlovic before bowing out to Troicki
• He captured his only ATP World Tour title at Zagreb in 2008 (d. Ljubicic) to become first lucky loser on tour to capture a title since Christian Miniussi in 1991…He achieved a career-high ranking of No. 74 on Nov. 17, 2008

Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) vs (WC) Michail Elgin (RUS)     First Meeting

Kunitsyn FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: Memphis (l Sela)
YTD W-L: 14-29
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: September 30, 1981
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 103

• Kunitsyn, 28, opened the tournament Wednesday with a 64 63 win over No. 7 seed Pablo Cuevas…  He is making his seventh appearance in St. Petersburg (4-6 record) and his best result was the semi-finals three years ago (l. to T. Johansson)…He’s lost in the first round in his other five visits
• He enters with a 14-29 match record on the season (11-20 on hard courts) with his best result the quarterfinals in Memphis in February (d. Andreev, Petzschner, l. to Sela in three sets), the only tournament he's won back-to-back matches…Since then he’s lost in the first or second round in his last 23 tournaments
• Last year’s Kremlin Cup champion (d. Safin) reached a career-high No. 35 on July 6 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings and this week is No. 103

Elgin FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-0
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 14, 1981
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 353

• Elgin, 28, posted his second career ATP World Tour win (2-6) over Mikhail Kukushkin 63 63 in his first tour match of the season
• The St. Petersburg native is trying to reach the quarter-finals in his hometown tournament for the second straight year…Last season he beat Filippo Volandri in the first round, received a walkover vs. Nikolay Davydenko and lost to Victor Hanescu in the quarters
• He has a 9-19 record in Challenger play this season and he reached a career-high No. 123 on July 6 this year but he's dropped to No. 353 coming in…Last year’s points came off on Monday

(1) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)   First Meeting

Youzhny FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Moscow (d Tipsarevic); F: Munich (l Berdych); Tokyo (l Tsonga); SF: Kitzbühel (l Garcia-Lopez); QF: Rotterdam (l Ancic); Marseille (l Llodra); London / Queen's Club (l Blake); Kuala Lumpur (l Gonzalez)
YTD W-L: 38-26
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: June 25, 1982
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 25

• Youzhny, 27, improved his tournament career record to 20-6 with a 63 62 win over last year’s finalist Andrey Golubev on Wednesday…He is making his eighth straight tournament appearance…He captured the title in 2004 (d. K. Beck) and was runner-up in 2002 (l. to Grosjean)
• The No. 2 Russian (behind No. 6 Davydenko) owns a 38-26 record on the season, including 23-15 on hard courts…He is 5-6 in his career in ATP World Tour finals (2-1 in Russia)
• Last Sunday he rallied to defeat Janko Tipsarevic in three sets in the Kremlin Cup final in his 11th Moscow appearance… He extended the Russian title streak in Moscow to six straight years with his fifth career ATP World Tour crown
• It was his third ATP World Tour final of the season after runner-up efforts in Tokyo earlier this month (l. to Tsonga) and in May in Munich where he lost to Tomas Berdych in a third set tie-break

Istomin FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: Eastbourne (l Tursunov)
YTD W-L: 15-17
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 7, 1986
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 101

• Istomin, 23, the top player from Uzbekistan on the ATP World Tour, is trying to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season…He opened with a 64 64 win over German Rainer Schuettler in his tournament debut
• His best ATP World Tour result of the season was the quarter-finals on grass in June (l. to eventual champion Tursunov)
• He comes in with a 15-17 match record on the season, including 8-12 on hard courts…He is also 13-10 in Challenger play
• He is playing in his sixth straight tournament in as many weeks…On Oct. 18 he reached the final at the Tashkent Challenger on home soil, losing to Marcos Baghdatis
• He became the first man from his country to reach the third round of a Grand Slam at the US Open (d. Evans, N. Lapentti, l. to Cilic)
• He reached a career-high ranking of No. 57 on July 27 but has dropped outside the Top 100 to No. 101 this week after failing to defend his points won with back-to-back challenger titles in August 2008

Marat Safin (RUS) vs (5) Igor Andreev (RUS)  Tied 1-1
06 Valencia (Spain) Clay R32 Marat Safin 7-6(6) 6-4
07 Moscow (Russia) Hard R16 Igor Andreev 6-4 6-4

Safin FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: Los Angeles (l Haas); Beijing (l Nadal)
YTD W-L: 16-20
Career Titles: 15
Date of Birth: January 27, 1980
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 77

• Safin, 29, improved to 18-5 lifetime in St. Petersburg with a 76(5) 64 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Wednesday…He won two of his 15 career titles in St. Petersburg in 2000 and 2001
• He is trying to reach his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season..Three weeks ago in Beijing, he defeated  No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez before falling to No. 2 Nadal …In late July he advanced to the quarter-finals in Los Angeles (l. to Haas)
• The Russian, who is planning to retire at the end of the season, enters with a 16-20 match record (13-13 on hard) in 2009…Last week in Moscow he beat No. 6-ranked Nikolay Davydenko in the first round   before losing in the next round to countryman Evgeny Korolev
• He has a 15-12 career record in finals with his last title coming at the Australian Open in 2005 (d. Hewitt)…His last final came in Moscow last October (l. to Kunitsyn)
• He held the No. 1 ranking almost nine years ago on Nov. 20, 2000 – two months after winning the first of two Grand Slam titles at the US Open

Andreev FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
SF: Casablanca (l Ferrero); Gstaad (l Bellucci); New Haven (l Verdasco); QF: Dubai (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 28-30
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: July 14, 1983
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 38

• Andreev, 26, opened with a 64 62 win over Potito Starace to improve his record to 2-2 in St. Petersburg…He is playing here for the first time in five years and is trying to reach his first quarter-final…He reached the second round in his debut in 2003
• The No. 3 Russian (behind No. 6 Davydenko, No. 25 Youzhny) comes in with a 28-30 match record on the year (15-18 on hard courts)…He is 2-5 indoors…Last week in Moscow he lost to Ginepri in 1st Rd.
• His best results are the semi-finals in Casablanca (l. to Ferrero) and Gstaad (l. to Bellucci) on clay and in New Haven (l. to Verdasco) on hard courts in August…He lost to the eventual champion in all three
• He is ranked No. 38 and he’s trying to finish in the Top 50 for the third straight year and fifth in last six