Somdev Devvarman
Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman scored a stunning upset win over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in straight sets to advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Somdev, the Indian number one tennis player, sent his 19th seed opponent packing 7-5, 6-0 in a second round match of the USD 3,645,000 prize money hard court ATP event.
It was another of those tough early round matches — he had drawn Roger Federer at the Dubai Open in the first round last month. But having advanced to the second round of a Masters event for the first time, he showed nerves of steel upsetting the former world number 8 in straight sets 7-5, 6-0.
Baghdatis is currently ranked 22nd in the world while Somdev is at 84th position.
After winning the first set 7-5, the Indian blanked Baghdatis in the second with some terrific ground strokes. He also converted five of the eight breakpoints he had while the Cypriot could barely manage to win one of the three.
Somdev, who qualified for the main draw along with his Davis Cup teammate Rohan Bopanna, was in complete control of the match as the Cypriot was in all manner of problems. Baghdatis could neither serve well nor return it with any confidence.
It was a credible performance by the Indian in a tournament in which the world’s top four players Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are taking part.
Somdev, who earlier in the second round beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, next plays Belgian Xavier Malisse who also stunned 15th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6(6), 7-5 in another second round match last night.
The Day of Upsets
Meanwhile, in other matches fifth seed Andy Murray, sixth-seeded David Ferrer and defending champion Ivan Ljubicic all fell by the wayside on a day of startling upsets.
British world number five Murray was eliminated 7-6 6-3 by American qualifier Donald Young, Spaniard Ferrer crashed out 7-6 6-3 at the hands of Croat Ivo Karlovic and Ljubicic was beaten 5-7 6-4 6-2 by Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.
Spanish world number one and top seed Rafael Nadal, however, had little trouble with his opening match as he demolished South African qualifier Rik de Voest 6-0 6-2 after just an hour on the showpiece center court.
The early exit of Murray was the most surprising of the day’s upsets, despite the fact that the 23-year-old Scot had not competed in more than a month.
Tags: BNP Paribas Open, Cyprus, India, Indian Tennis, Marcos Baghdatis, Somdev Devvarman, Tennis
