Somdev Devvarman in quarters of Bangkok Open but Balaji ousted

Second seed Somdev Devvarman reached the singles quarterfinals of the ATP Bangkok Open but N Sriram Balaji bowed after a three-set defeat, here today.

Somdev progressed after Australian qualifier Andrew Whittington retired mid-way in the second round contest due to heat stroke. Somdev was leading 7-5 4-2 when the Australian threw in the towel.

Balaji on the other hand, put up a valiant fight before losing 7-6(4) 2-6 3-6 to Benjamin Mitchell in the second round of the US $50,000 ATP Challenger hard court event. Mitchell had also knocked out top seed Tatsuma Ito from Japan in the opening round.