Somdev crashes out of Air Asia Open, Sanam in quarters

India’s Davis Cupper Somdev Devvarman crashed out of the $50,000 Air Asia Open against unseeded Italian Alessandro Bega even as his compatriot Sanam Singh made into the quarterfinals with a thrilling win over Belarusian Egor Gerasimov.

Somdev lost to Bega through a tie-breaker in both the sets after he put up a rather inconsistent show, making far too many unforced errors.

The Indian broke the Italian rival twice in the first set, but conceded the lead after Bega came back strongly to force the tie-breaker.

Somdev came back strongly to level at six-all, before he was trailing 0-4 in the tiebreaker. However, India’s Davis Cupper lost to the determined Italian, who clinched the set winning the tiebreaker 9-7.

Drama unfolded in second set also with Somdev coming back strongly to level at 4-all after Bega broke the Indian the third game. Inconsistency proved costly for Somdev who lost to Bega after the Italian served out the 12th game to claim set and match.

In another match, determination and a little luck saw Indian Sanam Singh making it to the last eight with a thrilling victory over Gerasimov.

The Belarusian, serving for the match in the final set tie-break saw a return from the Indian hit the net chord, forcing him to alter his approach to the net. That split second distraction gave Sanam the chance to level the tie- break scores at 6-all and he then grabbed the opportunity to serve out for the match clinching the next two points, with Egor hitting a return wide.

Earlier, Sanam gained rhythm in the first set after he broke the World No 323 in the first, third and fifth games to pocket the first set 6-2.