Somdev Devvarman beats former US Open semifinalist Ginepri in qualifiers

Somdev Devvarman

New York, Aug 23 (IANS) India’s Somdev Devvarman is one match away from reaching the men’s singles main draw of the US Open tennis tournament. He beat American Robby Ginepri in the second round of the qualifiers here.

The World No.113 had to dig deep Thursday before pulling off a 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 win over Ginepri, a semifinalist at the 2005 US Open. The hard fought battle lasted a little over two hours.

Devvarman served eight aces to Ginepri’s five while the American had the upper hand in hitting winners, 42 to Indian’s 27. Eventually, 44 unforced errors from the racket of the World No.252 led to his downfall.

Devvarman, whose best performance at Flushing Meadows in four appearances has been reaching the second round, plays Britain’s James Ward in his final qualifying match Friday.