Sixth seed Selvaraj bows out of National Grass Court Tennis

Pakistan Telegraph (IANS) Tuesday 7th February, 2012

Qualifier Yogesh Phogat upset sixth seeded Ajay Selvaraj while numero uno Saketh Myneni coasted to an easy win in the men's singles first round matches of the Indian Jute National Grass Court Tennis Championships here Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu's Selvaraj became the first seeded player to fall by the wayside as he went down to 24-year-old Delhi boy Phogat 4-6, 4-6 at the Calcutta South Club.

In the day's opening match on the centre court, top seed Saketh Myneni won 6-3, 6-1 without much fuss against his 19-year-old opponent Saurabh Singh of Delhi.

Saketh broke the teenager in the second game of the opening set and went on to demolish him in the first, third and seventh games of set two to march into the pre-quarter final.

Saketh later said it was the first time he played on grass. "I was trying to get as much as grip as possible. Grass was good, its fun, you can get a drive when needed without hurting. In grass you have to be at the top of your match as the ball was moving faster".

Seventh seed J.P. Mohit Mayur of Tamil Nadu rallied back after dropping the first set to put it across local boy Rupesh Roy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a two-hour duel.

In women's singles, third seed and seasoned pro veteran Rushmi Chakravarthi romped into the pre-quarter final with a 6-2, 6-0 decimation of sixth ranked Delhi's Garima Vatwani.