Samarkand (Uzbekistan): Seventh seed Yuki Bhambri fought past Ivan Gakhov in straight sets to move to the second round even as Divij Sharan bowed out of the USD 50,000 ATP Challenger event, here today. Yuki overcame the challenge of the Russian qualifier 6-4 6-3 in the opening round of the clay court tournament. In the one hour and 14 minutes contest, Yuki broke his rival twice in each set.
He himself was broken twice in the match but saving three other break chances saved him. However, left-handed Divij, who had qualified into the main draw, lost his first round 6-4 4-6 6-7(6) after an intense battle with local wild card Djurabeck Karimov.
Another Indian in the main draw is Saketh Mayneni, who had reached the second round yesterday with a 6-3 6-7(8) 6-3 win over Estonia’s Vladimir Ivanov. Myneni is set to take on Briton qualifier Luke Bambridge, who shocked second seed and home favourite Farrukh Dustov 2-6 6-3 6-2 in his first round today.
