Somdev one step away from Aus Open main draw

Somdev Devvarman kept the Indian hopes alive and is now just one step away from the Australian Open singles main draw after his three-set win against Germany's Tobias Kamke at Melbourne on Friday.

The 27th seed Indian overcame an indifferent start to beat his opponent 2-6, 6-1, 8-6 in the second round of the qualifying event.

Somdev, ranked 161, will take on world number 126 and 12th seed Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia in the third and final round. 

Prakash Amritraj and Yuki Bhambri had also entered the qualifying event but lost in the second and first round respectively.

After three failed attempts, Somdev played in his first singles Grand Slam event last year when he qualified for the US Open and reached second round of the main draw. 

Before that Prakash Amritraj was the last Indian to play in a Grand Slam when he entered the US Open in 2002 as a wild card entrant.