Andreev upsets Granollers in St. Petersburg

Igor Andreev of Russia rallied to upset sixth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) and advance to the second round of the St. Petersburg Open.

After trading sets, the 117th-ranked Andreev saved a match point while serving at 5-4 down in the decider to force a tiebreaker.

Serving at 5-4 up in the tiebreaker, Andreev landed a precise backhand down the line to earn two match points and then served a winner to close the match.

Andreev said he was struggling with his first serve in the first set.

“But it could have gone either way in the tiebreaker,” said Andreev, who lost in a third-set tiebreaker in the first round at the Kremlin Cup last week. “Last week I lost (in a tiebreaker). I decided to play more aggressively and risk today and I won.”

With the victory, Andreev, a former top-20 player, ended a five-match losing streak on hard courts.

“It was a very close match,” Granollers said. “We both played good but in the tiebreaker Igor (Andreev) was better than me. When you are in the tiebreaker, the match can be decided by two points.”