AUSTRALIAN No.2 James Duckworth has gone out of the St Petersburg Open, beaten 7–6 (7–3), 6–3 by Germany's Jan–Lennard Struff in the tournament's opening first round match.
Struff, who at No.53 is two places below Duckworth in the rankings, took one hour, 45 minutes to win the pair's first meeting, on Monday.
Having broken his opponent's first service game Duckworth was 5–2 up in the opening set only to be broken in the ninth. The set went to a tie–break but after establishing an early lead Duckworth was broken for four successive service points to lose the breaker 7–3.
The second stanza turned on Duckworth's second service game, which lasted 25 points. The Australian saved five break points, one with an 205kmh ace, but missed six chances to close the chance out before the German finally prevailed.
Duckworth forced deuce on Struff's serve at 3–5, but could not break him. He has now lost five of his last eight matches since reaching the final in Nur–Sultan last month.
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The Sydneysider's exit left John Millman as the only Australian left in the tournament. The Aussie No.3 will face Israeli wild card Yshai Oliel.
American Sebastian Korda advanced to the second round with a 7–6 (7–2), 7–5 win over Nino Serdarusic.
Korda, who won his first ATP Tour trophy this year in Parma, will next face third–seeded Roberto Bautista Agut at the hard–court tournament.
Seventh–seeded Alexander Bublik progressed with a 6–3, 6–4 win over home favorite Evgenii Tiurnev. –AAP
