Rohan Bopanna set up a second round clash with top seed Lu Yen-Hsun after winning a tough first round of the $ 1,25,000 ATP Challenger tournament in Tashkent at Olympic Tennis School.
Bopanna, who entered the main draw via qualifying competition, quelled the challenge of Ilia Marchenko 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in a first round contest.
Prakash in pre-quarter-finals
Calabasas: India’s Prakash Amritraj outplayed Australian Robert Smeets to move into the pre-quarter-finals of the $50,000 Mercedes Benz Challenger.
Prakash, ranked 227, beat 172-ranked Smeets 6-4,6-3. Prakash next plays Peru’s Ivan Miranda who shocked fifth-seeded American Kevin Kim, winning 7-5,7-6(2). Another Indian Somdev Devvarman, who is also listed in main draw, will take on American Alex Bogomolov jr. in his opening match.
Simon beats Blake
Madrid: Gilles Simon rallied to beat James Blake 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to keep the 11th-ranked winless in five appearances at the Madrid Masters. Gael Monfils of France also advanced, beating Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-4. Also, Marcel Granollers beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4, Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Carlos Moya 6-2, 6-2, and Jarkko Nieminen beat Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.