Somdev loses in first round at Istanbul Challenger

After a good performance at the just-concluded US Open, Somdev Devvarman made a shock first round exit from the ATP Challenger in Istanbul.

Seeded second, the Indian Davis Cupper was beaten 2-6, 3-6 by Russia’s Konstantin Kravchuk.

It was the first meeting between Somdev, ranked 101, and Konstantin, who is placed 74 places below the Indian in the ATP rankings.

Somdev won four matches at the US Open before losing to Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the second round of the singles main draw.

Meanwhile, at the Petange Challenger in Luxembourg, the third seeded pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja lost 3-6, 3-6 in the first round to Maximilian Neuchrist of Austria and Jurgen Zopp of Estonia.

Divij also had a good run at the US Open, making it to the pre-quarter-finals of the men’s doubles with Taipei partner Yen-Hsun Lu.

The pair lost to to Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(6), 6-3, 3-6.

Image: Somdev Devvarman

Photograph: Chris Hyde/Getty Images