Somdev gets easy opener in French Open qualifiers

Somdev Devvarman, seeded sixth in French Open qualifying event, has an easy opener against Jiri Vanek.

Paris: Somdev Devvarman has been seeded sixth in the French Open qualifying event and has got an easy opener against Jiri Vanek of Czech Republic.

Somdev is placed 111 places above 32-year old Vanek in the ATP ranking charts and it will be first meeting between the two players. US based Indian Prakash Amritraj is also trying his luck and will open his campaign against 17th seed Brazilian Joao Souza. Last year, Somdev had stumbled at the final hurdle at the clay court Grand Slam.Somdev had cleared the first two rounds at the Australian Open qualifiers in January this year but defeat in the decisive third round had put paid to his qualification hopes. PTI