Tennis top seed Mikhail Youzhny retired with a back injury midway through his second-round match against Denis Istomin at the St Petersburg Open today. Youzhny, fresh from winning his first Kremlin Cup title on Sunday, took a medical timeout after losing the first set but was forced to quit three games later, trailing 6-2 2-1.  

"I just felt a sharp pain in my back midway through the first set," the Russian world number 25 told a news conference. "I had to battle through the pain for the rest of the first set. The medical break didn't help either and soon I knew that I couldn't go any longer and had to stop. "I just hope it's not too serious," added Youzhny, who has been suffering from back pains for much of the season.

 In the last eight, 101st-ranked Istomin will face either former world number one Marat Safin, who is playing in his penultimate tournament before retiring, or fifth seed Igor Andreev. - Reuters