Yuki, Somdev, Ramkumar and Sanam advance to 2nd round
18 Feb 2015 10:50 PM GMT
Yuki, ranked 414, created a big upset by shocking the world number 127 from Russia 7-5 7-6(2) in one hour and 27 minutes.
Yuki, who played a memorable match against world number six Andy Murray at the Australian Open, put up a dominating show as he was in complete control of the first round contest. He served well and his strokes, specially the forehand, had both power and precision. Even as he was broken in the very first game of the match, he had enough arsenal to not only comeback but also upset the second seed.
Fifth Somdev, who has won only two matches in five tournaments so far this season, advanced when Croatia’s Antonio Veic suffered an abdomen injury in the second game of the second set.
Somdev, ranked 153, lost the first set 4-6 and was leading the second 2-0, following a break of serve when Veic, ranked 234, found it tough to continue after whipping a forehand winner that caused him the injury. “He was surely playing better than me,” Somdev remarked after the match.
Somdev had lost to him in Zagreb in 2011 on clay.
India’s number one singles player is now up against another Croat in Nikola Mektic, who defeated Indian qualifier N Vijay Sundar Prashanth 7-6(5), 6-7(5) 7-6(5) in a grueling first round contest that lasted almost three hours.
Wild card Sanam Singh also advanced with a 6-1 4-6 6-2 win over Frenchman Fabrice Martin in one hour and 27 minutes, while Ramkumar Ramanathan eked out a hard fought 4-6 7-6(3) 6-4 win over German qualifier Richard Becker.
“I wanted to stay in the match. I had to show some attitude since he was serving great. I started serving to his forehand and found my rhythm gradually,” Ramkumar said after a battle of attrition on court number one. Somdev did not look the player the Indian fans have seen in him as he struggled to rein in unforced errors, which affected his retrieving ability.
Three unforced errors put him down by three break chances and he hit a forehand to the net on the first to hand the Croat first break of the match.
The Indian immediately got the break back when the Croat made two consecutive forehand errors. Unforced errors returned to haunt him in the 10th game again, putting him down 0-30. He made it 30-30 but Veic found a volley winner following an intense rally to earn a set point, which was converted when Somdev hit a forehand to net. A double fault had Veic facing two break chances in the very first game of the second set. The Croat gave his heart out in the rally with his powerful strokes but Somdev got the lucky break when his shot hit the net and landed safely in Veic’s arena.
Somdev saved three break points in the second game and had a game point for a 2-0 lead when Veic came up with a ferocious forehand to make it deuce. However that shot hit him badly and he had no option but to concede the match.
Meanwhile, Indian qualifier N Sriram Balaji lost 4-6 2-6 to sixth seed Australia Luke Saville in one hour and 10 minutes.
Yuki, who played a memorable match against world number six Andy Murray at the Australian Open, put up a dominating show as he was in complete control of the first round contest. He served well and his strokes, specially the forehand, had both power and precision. Even as he was broken in the very first game of the match, he had enough arsenal to not only comeback but also upset the second seed.
Fifth Somdev, who has won only two matches in five tournaments so far this season, advanced when Croatia’s Antonio Veic suffered an abdomen injury in the second game of the second set.
Somdev, ranked 153, lost the first set 4-6 and was leading the second 2-0, following a break of serve when Veic, ranked 234, found it tough to continue after whipping a forehand winner that caused him the injury. “He was surely playing better than me,” Somdev remarked after the match.
Somdev had lost to him in Zagreb in 2011 on clay.
India’s number one singles player is now up against another Croat in Nikola Mektic, who defeated Indian qualifier N Vijay Sundar Prashanth 7-6(5), 6-7(5) 7-6(5) in a grueling first round contest that lasted almost three hours.
Wild card Sanam Singh also advanced with a 6-1 4-6 6-2 win over Frenchman Fabrice Martin in one hour and 27 minutes, while Ramkumar Ramanathan eked out a hard fought 4-6 7-6(3) 6-4 win over German qualifier Richard Becker.
“I wanted to stay in the match. I had to show some attitude since he was serving great. I started serving to his forehand and found my rhythm gradually,” Ramkumar said after a battle of attrition on court number one. Somdev did not look the player the Indian fans have seen in him as he struggled to rein in unforced errors, which affected his retrieving ability.
Three unforced errors put him down by three break chances and he hit a forehand to the net on the first to hand the Croat first break of the match.
The Indian immediately got the break back when the Croat made two consecutive forehand errors. Unforced errors returned to haunt him in the 10th game again, putting him down 0-30. He made it 30-30 but Veic found a volley winner following an intense rally to earn a set point, which was converted when Somdev hit a forehand to net. A double fault had Veic facing two break chances in the very first game of the second set. The Croat gave his heart out in the rally with his powerful strokes but Somdev got the lucky break when his shot hit the net and landed safely in Veic’s arena.
Somdev saved three break points in the second game and had a game point for a 2-0 lead when Veic came up with a ferocious forehand to make it deuce. However that shot hit him badly and he had no option but to concede the match.
Meanwhile, Indian qualifier N Sriram Balaji lost 4-6 2-6 to sixth seed Australia Luke Saville in one hour and 10 minutes.
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