Somdev Devvarman makes first round exit in French Open

Indian Somdev Devvarman went down in straight set to van Ljubicic of Croatia in the first round of men’s singles and made a first round exit from the French Open here on Tuesday.

Somdev, world No.66, lost 4-6, 3-6, 4-6 to the world No.36 in a match that lasted two hours.

Somdev looked in brilliant touch and broke the former world No.3 early in the first set to take a 4-2 lead. But the Indian lost the plot midway and was broken twice by Ljubicic,who pocketed the set in 46 minutes.

In the second set, Ljubicic and Somdev were tied at 3-3. But once again the Croatian showed his experience and broke the Indian in the seventh game to win the set 3-6.

Ljubicic, who made it to the third round in the French Open last year and made the semi-finals in 2006, next faces the winner of the match between Sam Querry (USA) and Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany).