Somdev sails into round two

 Second seed Somdev Devvarman advaned into the second round of the ATP Challenger being held here on Monday. 

Devvarman, who was knocked out in the last four stage in the semis in a similar tournament in Chennai last week, comfortably saw off the challenge of Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat 6-4, 6-4 to progress. 

In the other end of the draw, Indian wildcard Sanam Singh lost to Britain’s Daniel Cox 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 to bow out. 

Sanam looked in fine touch in the opening set but lost his way as the Brit gained a foothold in the match by taking the second set 7-5. 

Cox had the momentum in the third set and closed out the match. His next opponent is either qualifier Rui Machado or the top seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov. 

Results: 

First round: Somdev Devarman bt Mohamed Safwat 6-4, 6-4; Daniel Cox bt Sanam Singh 1-6, 7-5, 6-4; David Guez bt Ze Zhang 7-6 (7-1), 6-0; Marco Chiudnelli bt Illya Marchenko 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Radu Albot bt Steven Diez 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.