Berdych survives scare against Kuznetsov in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) Tomas Berdych had to dig deep to reach the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Open on Thursday as he beat Andrey Kuznetsov in a deciding-set tiebreak.

The world No. 9, seeded third, struggled to return serves as he battled to a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4) win over Kuznetsov, the top-ranked Russian at 46th.

Berdych next plays Italian Paolo Lorenzi, who saw off French qualifier Alexandre Sidorenko 7-6 (6), 6-4 in their second-round encounter.

Earlier, seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki beat fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka.

Portugal's eighth-seeded Joao Sousa also reached the quarterfinals, beating 18-year-old Russian wild card Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3.