In-form Yuki enters third round

Fresh from winning the Chennai leg, Yuki Bhambri advanced to the second round, even as the other two Indians Saketh Myneni and Vishnu Vardhan made quiet exits in the $50,000 ATP Challenger at BTA Courts here on Tuesday.

The second day’s proceedings also saw an upset when unseeded Argentinean Agustin Velotti ousted fifth seed Blaz Rola 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in the first round.

In the doubles, Vishnu Vardhan and Divij Sharan got the better of Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja in an intense battle, while there was a heartbreak for the pair of Yuki and Michael Venus of New Zealand who went down to the Taiwanese duo of Hsien-Yin Peng and Tsung-Hua Yang.

Yuki and Somdev, who are the only two Indians left in fray in the second round, may find the going tough.

In the second round on Wednesday, unseeded Yuki will face Russian third seed Evgeny Donskoy, who at 127, is 18 notches above the Indian in the rankings.

Second seed and wild card entrant Somdev, on the other hand, will lock horns against ATP Challenger Chennai runner-up Alexander Kudryavtsev in the first match on Wednesday.

Results: Men’s singles: First round: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) bt Rui Machado (Por) 6-2, 6-4; Evgeny Donskoy (Rus) bt Saketh Myneni 6-4, 6-2; Go Soeda (Jpn) bt Theodoros Angelinos (Gre) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Agustin Velotti (Arg) bt Blaz Rola (Slo) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Gerard Granollers (Esp) bt Jordi Samper-Montana (Esp) 6-3, 6-1; Ilija Bozoljac (Srb) bt Tsung-Hua Yang (Tpe) 6-3, 6-2; Daniel Munoz-De La Nava (Esp) bt Axel Michon (Fra) 6-3, 6-3; Ti Chen (Tpe) bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 6-2; Yuki Bhambri bt Liang-Chi Huang (Tpe) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (Esp) bt Thomas Fabbiano (Ita) 6-4, 6-2.