Somdev crashes out of French Open in first round

Published>Mon, May 24 10 12:11 AM

Paris, May 23 (IANS) A fighting Somdev Devvarman crashed out of the French Open 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 in a marathon first round match against Switzerland's 65th-ranked Marco Chiudinelli here Sunday.

The 109th-ranked Indian and Chiudinelli were locked in a three-hour long battle before the Swiss evened his head-to-head meetings with Somdev. The Indian had beaten Chiudinelli in their only previous meeting in Dubai earlier this year.

Somdev Friday had become the first Indian in 13 years to qualify for the main draw at Roland Garros. Leander Paes was the last Indian to play in the men's singles here in 1997 and he lost in the second round to Magnus Norman.

Somdev's only previous Grand Slam entry was in the US Open last year where he lost to Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.

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