Somdev loses a 1st round match for sixth time in a row

Vienna: Somdev Devvarman`s on-court struggle continued post a comeback as he lost his sixth consecutive first round match when he suffered a straight-set defeat against Ernest Gulbis at ATP Erste Bank Open here today.

The unseeded Indian, whose ranking has plummeted to 579 lost to his wild-card opponent from Latvia 6-7(6) 3-6 in one hour and 43 minutes. Somdev, who missed action for about seven months in the 2012 season due to a shoulder surgery, has now lost all his singles matches since making a comeback at London Olympics. He had lost to Finland` Jarkko Nieminen at the Games in July and has not won a single match in this season. He had a phenomenal 2009 and reached a career-best ranking of 62 last year but the shoulder injury put a brake on on his progress. PTI