By IANS,
Paris : Somdev Devvarman Friday became the first Indian to make the men’s singles main draw at the French Open in 13 years as he breezed past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-1 here.
Leander Paes was the last Indian to play in the men’s singles at Roland Garros in 1997 and he lost in the second round to Magnus Norman.
Somdev, whose only previous Grand Slam singles entry was last year’s US Open where he lost to 24th seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets, failed to make it to the other three majors.
Somdev, who turned professional in 2008, however, qualified for the men’s doubles at Wimbledon along with South African Kevin Anderson. As luck would have it, they ran into fourth-seeded Indo-Bahamian pair, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, and gave them a good fight before bowing out in four sets.
The 109-ranked Somdev, who had tought three-setter in the first round against Czech Jiri Vanek, had an easy outing against Mannarino Friday. After a keenly contested first set, lasting 58 minutes, the sixth-seeded Indian took the second set in a jiffy in 27 minutes.
Left-handed Mannarino, ranked 289, made the first round here in 2008 and 2009. He had problems with his serve in the first set and though he served a lot better in the second there was no stopping Somdev.