Somdev advances to 2nd round of Australian Open qualifiers

Sydney: India's top singles tennis player Somdev Devvarman advanced to the second round of the ATP Apia International Qualifiers here on Saturday by edging past Belgium's Niel Desein.

Somdev, World No.90, put behind his shock defeat to compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan in the ongoing Chennai Open by beating the Belgian 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in an hour and 43 minutes.

The Indian ace will next face Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.

The German, who is ranked 107 in the world shocked top seed Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (6) 6-2.