New York, Sep 1 (IANS) India’s top-ranked singles player Somdev Devvarman made a first round exit from the men’s singles of the US Open here after he went down fighting to fourth-seed Andy Murray of Britain.
Somdev gave a tough fight to the 24-year-old Murray, breaking him twice in his opening service game and stretched the set to a tie-break. The Scotsman was made to work hard but came through 7-6(7-5), 6-2, 6-3 on a hot afternoon in New York Wednesday.
Murray, who lost the 2008 final at Flushing Meadows to Roger Federer, made a nervous start as he dropped his serve immediately and even after getting back on level terms at 3-3 he struggled to break free of the World No.64.
Somdev had his chance at 3-1, but a double-fault cost him and brought Murray level and the Briton went on to convert his third set point.
‘He is very solid. I have seen a little bit of him before. I watched a few videos of him the last couple of days just to see what his game was like. He doesn’t give you many free points, especially early on in the match. You have to get him to work hard before he starts making mistakes,’ Murray said of Somdev.
Murray admitted that he was nervous before the match.
‘I was a little bit nervous at the start and making some bad decisions. Then once I calmed down, I felt better the middle of the first set and started hitting the ball a little bit better. The second and third sets were good. I was hitting the ball pretty clean,’ he said.
Somdev said: ‘He really does take advantage of his opportunities. Once he got ahead a break in the second, I felt he really took control of the match.’
