ATP Chennai - Seeded Malisse and Rochus upset in first round

In a low key day at the ATP Chennai Open, the only Indians in action on Tuesday in the first round were the doubles wild card duo of Jeevan Neduncheziyan and Sriram Balaji. The Indians put on a good fight against the second seeded duo of Rajeev Ram and Scott Lipsky before going down 7-5, 6-4.

India’s top doubles stars Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and Leander Paes (who partners with Janko Tipsarevic) will play their first round matches on Wednesday.

In singles action, two seeds were upset on Tuesday. Former champion Xavier Malisse, seeded seventh this year, lost to fellow Belgian David Goffin 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 54 minutes while eight seed Olivier Rochus, also of Belgium, was upset by another wild card Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hr 40 mins.

American Sam Querrey, once ranked in the top 20 but now languishing in the 90s after an injury prone 2011 season, also lost on Tuesday – beaten by Romanian Victor Hanescu.

Hanescu won 70 per cent of his service points to beat Querrey 6-3, 6-4.

The only Indian in contention in the singles – Yuki Bhambri – will take on top seed Janko Tipsarevic on Thursday in a second round match.