Oeiras (Portugal), May 2 (IANS): India’s Somdev Devvarman was outclassed by top seed Tomas Berdych in the men’s singles second round of the $250,000 Portugal Open here on Thursday.
Somdev, India’s top ranked singles player, lost to the Czech 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 15 minutes.
Berdych was superior in every single department of the match. The World No. 6 was clinical with his serve, winning 85 percent points on his first serve and recording six aces to the Indian’s one.
Somdev to his credit managed to earn three break points, but failed to convert any. On the other hand, Bedych converted three of the five break opportunities he had.
The 102-ranked Indian had beaten Matthew Ebden, in the opening round Tuesday, his first victory after five straight first-round defeats.
Meanwhile, Purav Raja and Divij Sharma’s run in the tournament came to end as they went down to men’s doubles top seeds Pablo Cuevas and David Marrero in the quarterfinals.
The Indian pair lost to Uruguayan-Spanish team 6-2, 6-2 in just 54 minutes.
