Vishnu Vardhan stood one point away from victory six times in his first round match at the Aircel Chennai Open on Monday night but his Croatian opponent, Ivan Dodig, remained dogged throughout – not giving up and fighting back to take the match into a third set.
There, the fifth seeded Croatian’s experience showed as he rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 win over the Indian, who is ranked 312 in the world as compared to Dodig’s ranking of 36th.
The Indian had matchpoint on the Croat’s serve at 5-4 in the second set and then again at 6-5 and then some more in the tiebreaker. But each time, Dodig played steady and found a way to win the breaker. The Croat was all over the Indian winning the decider easily 6-1.
It would have been the Indian’s first ever ATP level victory but instead it was a perfect birthday gift for Dodig, who turns 27 on Monday.
With Indian number one Somedev Devvarman pulling out due to a shoulder injury, India’s hopes in the singles now rest on the young shoulders of 19 year odl Yuki Bhambri, who scored a straight sets win over world no. 101 Karol Beck earlier on Monday.
Bhambri will now play top seed Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.
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