Safin stunned by Stakhovsky

Safin: No fairytale ending

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Marat Safin's final event on home soil ended in the semi-finals of the St Petersburg Open when he lost 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.

The Russian, who will retire next month, was in the last four for the first time in 23 tournaments but the final proved a step too far as he went down in one hour 48 minutes.

Stakhovsky gained a decisive break in the 10th game to take the first set but Safin, currently down at 77th in the world rankings, broke early in the second before levelling the match.

A tightly contested decider suddenly went the way of Stakhovsky when Safin suffered a lapse in the 10th game, sending down a slew of unforced errors to hand his opponent a place in the final.

"I've reached the semi-finals and it's a good result for my recent form," Safin said.

"I was serving bad through the entire match and I had to risk and made too many unforced errors. Stakhovsky felt it and dominated the match."

The winner said it was one of the proudest moments of his career.

"Safin was my idol when I began to play tennis," Stakhovsky said. "I will remember this match. I have never beaten a player who had won two Grand Slams."

There was further disappointment for Russian fans when Igor Kunitsyn lost the second semi-final against eighth seed Horacio Zeballos.

The Argentine edged the first set 9-7 in the tie-break and followed up by taking the second 6-3 to book his place Sunday's final.