Kolkata: Fresh from winning the Chennai leg, Yuki Bhambri advanced to the second round here, even as the other two Indians – Saketh Myneni and Vishnu Vardhan – made quiet exits in the ATP Challenger on Tuesday.
Yuki beat Liang-Chi Huang of Taiwan 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 10 minutes.
The second day’s proceedings also saw an upset when unseeded Argentine’s Agustin Velotti ousted fifth seed Blaz Rola 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the first round.
In the doubles, Vishnu Vardhan and Divij Sharan got the better of Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja in an intense battle, while there was a heartbreak for the pair of Yuki and Michael Venus of New Zealand, who went down to the Taiwanese duo of Hsien-Yin Peng and Tsung-Hua Yang.
Yuki and Somdev, who are the only two Indians left in fray in the singles second round, may find the going tough.
In the second round on Wednesday, unseeded Yuki will face Russian third seed Evgeny Donskoy, who at 127 is 18 notches above the Indian in the ATP rankings.
Second seed and wild card entrant Somdev, on the other hand, will lock horns against ATP Challenger Chennai runner-up Alexander Kudryavtsev in the first match.
Vishnu was shown the door by qualifier Ti Chen from Taiwan in a straight 6-3, 6-2 finish.
Later in the day, Davis Cupper and 27-year-old Saketh was denied a berth in the last-16 with the third-seeded Donskoy storming to a 6-4, 6-2 victory. (PTI)
