Bogomoloc, Cilic advance

St Petersburg - Alex Bogomolov Jr of the United States and Marin Cilic of Croatia both won three-set matches to advance to the quarterfinals of the St Petersburg Open on Thursday, while eighth-seeded local favourite Dmitry Tursunov was eliminated in straight sets in the second round.

The seventh-seeded Bogomolov Jr beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, while fourth-seeded Cilic rallied to oust Somdev Devvarman of India 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. Tursunov lost to Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-4.

In his second consecutive quarter-final appearance in two weeks, Bogomolov Jr will play Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic, who recovered to beat Israeli wildcard Dudi Sela 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

The 53rd-ranked Starace broke Tursunov two times in the first set and in the fifth game of the second. Tursunov saved three match points at 5-4 before earning his only break point of the match, but the Italian served two winners and closed the match with a backhand volley.

The 84th-ranked Devvarman broke in the 11th game of the first set, but the 24th-ranked Cilic, who is looking for his first title this season, won five consecutive games in the second set and broke twice in the decider to advance.

Bogomolov Jr is making his debut at a second consecutive event in Russia after reaching the quarter-finals at the Kremlin Cup last week. He said earlier this week that he plans to represent Russia in the Davis Cup.

Kohlschreiber won three games in a row and saved a match point as he fought back from 5-2 down to level at 5-all. But serving at 6-5 down and 30-all, the unseeded German returned wide and then double faulted on match point.

"It was a good match," Bogomolov Jr said. "He (Kohlschreiber) was playing much better by the end of the match. He received perfectly when I was serving for the match at 5-3 up and broke me. I was lucky when he double faulted on second match point. I'm happy that I will play in the next round."

Results from the fourth day of the ATP Saint Petersburg Open on Thursday (x denotes seeding):

Second Round

Marin Cilic (CRO x4) bt Somdev Devvarman (IND) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Igor Andreev (RUS) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA x7) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
Potito Starace (ITA) bt Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x8) 6-2, 6-4
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x2) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-3, 2-0 - retired