Somdev overcomes first hurdle,stays on course

Indias Somdev Devvarman overcame the first hurdle to stay on course for a place in the singles main draw of the Sony Ericsson Open but compatriot Yuki Bhambri crashed out after losing his first round qualifying match in the USD 3,645,000 event.

Somdev found some early resistance before he swept aside his French opponent David Guez 7-6(3) 6-4 to sail into the second round.

Somdev now faces third seeded Ukrainian Illya Marchenko who downed Joao Souza 6-1 6-3 in another first round match.

Yuki Bhambri,meanwhile,proved no match for top seed Denla Istomin as the Uzbek tamed him 6-1 6-3 with consummate ease.