By IANS,
Charlottesville (Virginia) : India’s Somdev Devvarman was stretched to three sets by Hungarian wildcard Denes Lukacs before winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the first round of $50,000 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament here.
Third-seeded Somdev’s win Tuesday has pitted him against South African Davis Cupper Izak Van Der Merwe in the next round. Van Der Merwe defeated compatriot and the doubles partner, Raven Klasssen 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
However, the top seeded pair of India’s Harsh Mankad and the Philippines’ Treat Conrad Huey crashed out of the first round with a 7-6(1), 7-5 loss to Americans Cory Parr and Todd Paul.
India’s Sanam Singh, a University of Virginia sophomore and a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) semifinalist last spring, has also advanced to the second round.
Sanam Monday shocked 156th-ranked and sixth-seeded Grega Zemlja of Slovakia 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 and now plays American Scoville Jenkins.