Chennai: Indian wild card entrant Jeevan Nedunchezhian crashed out of the Chennai Open after a bright start soon after Ramkumar Ramanathan stormed into the singles main draw with a superb win over higher-ranked Slovakian Norbert Gombos, here today.
Left-handed Jeevan lost 5-7 2-6 to another left-hander and world number 85 Jiri Vesely of Cezch Republic in the first singles main draw match of the tournament at the centre court.
Before Jeevan took court, Ramkumar, ranked 526, ousted Gombos, who is ranked 197, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and six minutes battle.
However, he has been pitted against India's best singles player Somdev Devvarman in his first round match.
Others to qualify today were Swiss Henri Laaksonen and Russia's Alexander Kudryavtsev.
In the doubles main draw, Indian wild card Saketh Myneni and his Russian partner Karen Khachanov progressed to the quarterfinal with a hard fought win over Spanish duo of Pablo Carreno Busta and Albert Ramos 6-1, 7-6 (7).
In other singles main draw matches today, 30-year-old top Taipei star Yen-Hsun Lu, ranked 66, defeated 89th ranked American Tim Smyczek 6-4, 6-2 and 28-year-old Dudi Sela of Israel, a regular to this tournament, got past Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-4 6-2.
In the last match of the day, Canadian fifth seed Vasek Pospisil brushed aside the challenge of British wild card Kyle Edmund 6-3 7-5.
RESULTS - DECEMBER 30, 2013
Men's
Singles - First Round
[5] V Pospisil (CAN) d [WC] K Edmund (GBR) 63 75
Y Lu (TPE) d T Smyczek (USA) 64 62
J Vesely (CZE) d [WC] J Nedunchezhiyan (IND) 75 62
D Sela (ISR) d L Lacko (SVK) 64 62
Men's
Doubles - First Round
[WC] K Khachanov (RUS) / S Myneni (IND) d P Carreno Busta (ESP) / A Ramos (ESP) 61 76(7)
Mens
Qualifying Singles - Third Round
Qualifying - H Laaksonen (SUI) d I Marchenko (UKR) 46 63 75
Qualifying - R Albot (MDA) d P Oswald (AUT) 63 64
Qualifying - A Kudryavtsev (RUS) d F Nielsen (DEN) 64 64
Qualifying - R Ramanathan (IND) d N Gombos (SVK) 76(3) 36 63
