World No. 168 Saketh Myneni was left the last Indian standing as the qualifying rounds got under way at the Australian Open in Melbourne Park on Wednesday. In an all-Indian clash, Myneni prevailed over the Chennai Open quarter-finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan, 6-4, 6-1.
Myneni will next face the 261st ranked Italian Lorenzo Giustino on Friday for a place in the final round of qualifying at the year’s first Grand Slam.
In another match, the Australian Open singles hopes of former No. 1 Somdev Devvarman were dashed as he bowed out 6-2, 1-6, 4-6 to the 164th-ranked Jurgen Zopp of Estonia.
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On a day when play was suspended because of sweltering heat in Melbourne, Myneni and Ramkumar were locked at 4-4 in a highly competitive first set. But the Asian Games gold medallist Myneni secured a break in the ninth game which handed over the opening set to the 28-year-old.
The second set was a one-way traffic as 21-year-old Ramkumar failed to do any damage to Myneni’s game after the first set setback. Myneni broke the World No. 206 thrice and wrapped up the match in 1 hour and 6 minutes.
Narrow loss for Somdev
173rd-ranked Somdev, meanwhile, began his match well, breaking his Estonian opponent twice. The joy did not last long as Zopp soon came alive and made in-roads into the Indian’s serve twice.
In the decider, Somdev fought hard till 3-3 but had to bow down to the relentless pressure of the Estonian, conceding a decisive break in the seventh game. Zopp needed no more favour after that and calmly served out the win after 1 hour and 45 minutes.
