Somdev loses, Ankita to enter top 300

Somdev Devvarman at the Malaysian Open

Somdev loses in the semifinals

In Kuala Lumpur, Somdev Devvarman and Rik de Voest lost in the semifinals of the doubles competition at the Malaysian Open. They had entered the competition as alternates after the withdrawal of Nikolay Davydevko. After an easy first round, they managed to outsmart the second seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Julian Benneteau in three sets in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals today, they were defeated by Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zebellos 0-6, 6-2, 10-7 in 53 minutes.

They took the first set with three consecutive breaks in just 17 minutes. They also managed to win seventy percent of the total points played in the set. The second set saw their serve being broken in the very first game. In a quick repartee, Cuevas and Zebellos squared things up with a 6-2 win in the second set. In the super tie-break, Somdev and his South African partner, one of his close friends on tour, managed to save two match points at 5-9. But, the final point on Somdev’s service was won by the South American team to clinch the match.

Ankita to break into top 300

In the Fergana $25,000 challenger tournament, eighth seed Ankita Raina lost her quarterfinal match 1-6, 3-6 to third seeded Anastasiya Vasylyeva of Ukraine. The match lasted for an hour. Ranked at 307, she stands a chance of entering the top 300 by virtue of the points that she gained in this tournament. She had also lost in the same stage of the doubles competition yesterday. A top 250 finish this season could see her being fielded in the Australian Open qualifying draw.