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Somdev Devvarman takes just 57 minutes to oust ATP Chennai runner-up

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Somdev Devvarman
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Second seed Somdev Devvarman was back in his elements as the India No.1 knocked out last week's Chennai leg runner-up Alexander Kudryavtsev in 57 minutes to storm into the last eight of the ATP Challenger Tour at BTA Courts, here today.

Playing with a wildcard, Somdev should have it easy in the quarters tomorrow as the ATP ranked 100th will have an easy opponent in Spain's Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, who is ranked 208th.
Somdev is the only Indian in fray in the USD 50,000 event.

There was also disappointment in store for the ATP Chennai winner Yuki Bhambri, who made a shock second round exit going down to third seed Evgeny Donskoy without any resistance.

The day's play also saw two upsets in tournament fourth seed Go Soeda of Japan and seventh seed Radu Albot of Moldova who were ousted by their respective opponents.

It was a memorable day for Taiwanese qualifier Ti Chen, who showed the door to Roger Federer's Davis Cup teammate and 'good friend' Marco Chiudinelli 7-5 6-7 6-3 in a marathon two-hour 51-minute battle.

Chen, ranked 285th, will next face the in-form Russian Donskoy as he finds himself in the same half of the draw as Somdev, who incidentally had beaten the Taiwanese in the Davis Cup last month.

Recovering from a career threatening shoulder surgery last year, Somdev capitalised on an error prone Kudryavtsev to find out his rhythm.

Kudryavtsev was broken in the fourth game of the first set, after which both kept holding their serves, with Somdev moving a step ahead with the opening set by 6-3.

In the second, Kudryavtsev was broken twice on the third as well as the ninth game as Somdev pulled off his maiden win against the Russian en route to the quarters.

"I served very well, something that helped me take the upper hand. It feels I'm slowly getting into my A game," a delighted Somdev said after wrapping the issue in 57 minutes.

"He's an extremely dangerous player but his serves were not up to the mark and gave me a lot of free points. I happy with the way I'm going on," he said giving credit of his fitness to trainer Milos Galecic and physio Abhimanyu Singh.

Fresh champion from ATP Challenger Tour Chennai, Yuki was blown away by third seed Donskoy in a matter of one-hour and 21 minutes.

Yuki was broken in the fourth game of the opening set to give Donskoy a 4-1 lead, as he grabbed the set 6-3. 

In the second, Donskoy broke the Indian in the very first game but could not hold on to the lead as he dropped his serve in the eighth game, making it 4-4.

There again Yuki got broken as he made some errors and a double fault in the ninth game, giving the Russian a golden opportunity to serve for the match.

Donskoy refused to let the opportunity go by as he closed the match by a 6-3 6-4 win.

However, Indians have brighter chances in the doubles with the left-right handed pair of Divij Sharan-Vishnu Vardhan and the duo of Saketh Myneni-Sanam Singh sailing into the semis.

Saketh-Sanam blazed past Lucas Pouille of France and Soeda 6-3 6-3 to book a semis date against the Spanish duo of Granollers and Menendez-Maceiras.

Divij and Vishnu in the other quarters struggled past Taiwanese duo of Hsien-Yin Peng and Tsung-Hua Yang as they will face the singles top seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan and Blaz Rola of Slovenia.

Results:
Men's Singles PQFs: Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) b Daniel Cox (GBR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; David Guez (FRA) b Gerard Granollers (ESP) 7-5, 6-3; Ilija Bozoljac (SRB) b Go Soeda (JPN) 6-4, 6-3; Agustin Velotti (ARG) b Daniel Munoz-de La Nava (ESP) 6-3, 6-2; Ti Chen (TPE) b Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 7-5, 6-7 (0), 6-3; Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) b Yuki Bhambri (IND) 6-3, 6-4; Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) b Radu Albot 6-4, 7-6 (3), Somdev Devvarman (IND) b Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS) 6-3, 6-3.
Men's Doubles, QFs: Saketh Myneni/ Sanam Singh (IND) b Lucas Pouille (FRA)/ Soeda (JPN) 6-3, 6-3; Granollers/ Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) b Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 7-5, 6-4; Divij Sharan/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) b Hsien-Yin Peng/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE) 6-3, 7-6 (4); Nedovyesov (KAZ)/ Blaz Rola (SLO) b Victor Baluda/ Kudryavtsev (RUS) 6-3, 6-3.
 

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