Easy win for Prakash

Prakash Amritraj began his campaign at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships with an easy straight sets win over Flavio Cipolla, here.

The US-based player scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over his higher-ranked Italian opponent in the first round of the men’s singles.

The 308-ranked Amritraj, a runner-up here in 2008, never faced a breakpoint in the contest and broke his rival, ranked 147, twice in each set.

He next faces former world number one Australian Lleytton Hewitt, who is now ranked 64, in the second round.

Amritraj is featuring in the doubles event as well, pairing with American Sam Querrey. Their first round opponents are Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium and Michal Przysiezny of Poland.