Yuki sails to Rd 2 of ATP Challenger

Fresh from winning the Chennai leg, Yuki Bhambri advanced to the second round, even as the other two Indians Saketh Myneni and Vishnu Vardhan made quiet exits in the $50,000 ATP Challenger at BTA Courts in Kolkata.

The second day's proceedings also saw an upset when unseeded Argentinean Agustin Velotti ousted fifth seed Blaz Rola 7-6(3), 6-4 in the first round.

In the doubles, Vishnu Vardhan and Divij Sharan got the better of Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja in an intense battle, while there was a heartbreak for the pair of Yuki and Michael Venus of New Zealand who went down to Taiwanese duo of Hsien-Yin Peng and Tsung-Hua Yang.

Yuki and Somdev, who are the only two Indians left in fray in the second round, may find the going tough.

In the second round, unseeded Yuki will face Russian third seed Evgeny Donskoy, who at 127 is 18 notches above the Indian in the ATP rankings.

Second seed and wild card entrant Somdev, on the other hand, will lock horns against ATP Challenger Chennai runner-up Alexander Kudryavtsev in the first match.

Yuki was little off form in the first set as none of his service games went easy which he eventually dropped on the seventh game to go down in the first set 4-6.

"I did not adjust to the court which seemed faster than the surface in Chennai... I was in a hurry to finish. I hope to have a better game tomorrow," Yuki said.

Yuki was quick to adjust in the second set as he came back strongly to take a 3-0 lead but then made some errors during long rallies to allow his opponent break back and level the match 3-3.

From there on, it was like a one-sided affair for Yuki who stormed the next eight games, thereby winning not only the second set 6-3, but also taking a commanding 5-0 lead in the decider.

Huang broke Yuki at 0-5 down, but the Indian refused to donate any further game thereafter, as he immediately broke Huang settling the issue 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 10 minutes.

In the opening match of the day, recent Grass Court National champion Vishnu was shown the door by qualifier Ti Chen from Chinese Taipei in a straight 3-6, 2-6 finish.

Later in the day, Davis Cupper and 27-year-old Saketh was denied a berth in the last 16 with third seeded Donskoy storming to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Slovakia's Rola was a break down and 1-3 in the opening set, but managed to break back to level the match and push it to a tie-breaker.

In the breaker, Velotti proved better to grab 7-3 while in the second, it was a neck and neck affair till 4-4, where Velotti held serve and followed it up with a break to win the match 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a one hour 39 minutes battle.