Somdev loses to Verdasco in first round of China Open

Beijing: India`s Somdev Devvarman has crashed out of the China Open in the first round after he lost to Spanish player Fernando Verdasco 6-7, 3-6 in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

Somdev lost serve in the opening game of the first set but broke back to tie the score at 5-5, and then lost the tie-beak despite having four set points, leading once at 6-2. In the second set, Verdasco had the advantage of serving first and broke Devvarman in the 7th game to take the lead, winning the set 6-3 later to win the match. The first set took an hour and a minute while the second took 35 minutes to complete. The China Open is an ATP 500 event and has players like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal competing for the title. ANI