Somdev makes first round exit from French Open

Paris: Somdev Devvarman failed to cross the first round hurdle at the second Grand Slam of the season as he waged a tough fight before losing to Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the French Open, here on Sunday.

The unseeded Indian, ranked six places above his Kazakshatan rival at 93, fought for three hours and 13 minutes but ended up on the wrong side of the result, 7-5 3-6 6-7(4) 3-6. At Australian Open also, Somdev had made a first round exit. He has never gone beyond the second rounds at Grand Slam events. Interestingly, Somdev had beaten Nedovyesov to win the Delhi Open Challenger title in February and has been struggling since then. After his triumph at the DLTA courts, Somdev has won only two matches on the ATP tour. Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza will represent India at doubles events of the Clay Court Grand Slam.