ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Fernando Verdasco beat Karlis Lejnieks of Latvia 6-1, 6-3 today to advance to the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Open, while Nikolay Davydenko pulled out with a wrist injury.

The sixth-ranked Davydenko, who moved to the second round with a straight-sets victory over Chris Guccione on Tuesday, pulled out today because of the injury suffered during a late practice Tuesday.

The third-seeded Verdasco had little trouble against Lejnieks, the lowest-ranked player in the field at No. 664 and playing in his first ATP event. The 15th-ranked Spaniard, a runner-up to Andy Murray here last year, had two breaks in each set to close the match in 65 minutes.

In first-round action, Kazakhstan qualifier Andrey Golubev served 19 aces to beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-1, 6-4.