Moscow, Russia (My Sportsbook) - Playing in his native Moscow for the last time, Marat Safin came up a second-round loser Thursday at the $1.08 million Kremlin Cup tennis event.

An unseeded Safin succumbed to fellow Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) on the indoor hardcourts at Olympic Stadium. Korolev topped defending Moscow champ Igor Kunitsyn here on Tuesday. Kunitsyn upset Safin in last year's Moscow finale.

A two-time Moscow runner-up, the 29-year-old two-time major champion and former world No. 1 Safin expects to retire from the ATP at the end of this season.

Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic moved on with a 6-4, 2-1 victory over Christophe Rochus, as the Belgian retired due to an illness on Day 4.

In other second-round play, qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan handled American Wayne Odesnik 6-3, 6-4, Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko got past Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 and American Robby Ginepri grounded Spaniard Marcel Granollers 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.

Friday's quarterfinals will pit third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny against Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky, fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay versus Kukushkin, Tipsarevic against Ginepri and Korolev versus Marchenko, who's making his ATP debut this week.

The 2009 Moscow champ will collect $170,000.