Vera Dushevina scored a first-round upset in the Kremlin Cup on Monday by beating Roberta Vinci of Italy , but compatriot Igor Andreev fell just short of a similar feat, succumbing in three sets to Italy's Andreas Seppi.
The unseeded Dushevina dispatched seventh seed Vinci 7-6, 6-4 to set up a second-round match against either of Nadia Petrova and wild card Evgeniya Rodina.
"I love playing at home," Dushevina said. "I know Roberta very well, and I knew the match wouldn't be easy. ... But I knew how to play to make her use of net approaches and slices more uncomfortable."
Vinci, the world No. 22, is enjoying her best-ever year with a second Barcelona Open title in April and a defeat of World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the Rogers Cup in Toronto in August.
The 25-year-old Dushevina has a career-high ranking of 31, which she hit in 2005, but inconsistent performances since have seen her fall back to No. 78.
In the men's draw, Russia's Igor Andreev pushed eighth seed Andreas Seppi all the way to a final set tiebreak but was edged out 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4). Seppi, the world No. 53, faces Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine or qualifier Michael Berrer of Germany in round two.
Like Dushevina, Andreev, the world No. 115, is struggling in the lower echelons of the world rankings after a brighter earlier stage to his career. The 28-year-old has a career-best ranking of 18 in 2008.
In other women's action Monday, Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski thrashed Alona Bodarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-0; Kaia Kanepi of Estonia beat Italy's Sara Errani 6-0, 7-5.
In the men's draw, Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili beat Karol Beck of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4 to face home favorite Nikolay Davydenko in the second round; and Pere Riba of Spain edged Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 7-6, 6-3, to set up a clash with defending champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia.
