The ATP Chennai Open began on a bright note for Frenchman Olivier Patience as he quelled the challenge of third seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany 6-2, 6-2 in Chennai on Monday.
The other two first round main draw matches went on expected lines with Jan Michael Gambil disposing of his American compatriot Justin Gimelstob 6-3, 6-3, while Paul Henri Mathieu of France accounted for Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4.
Earlier, Indian Davis cupper Harsh Mankad became only the second Indian after Sandeep Kirtane (in 1996) to qualify for an ATP Tour main draw held in India.
Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad rallied from a set down to beat higher ranked Jamie Delgado of Britain 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and become only the second Indian qualifier to make it to the singles main draw.
In the final qualifying round, Mankad, whose ranking reached a career high of 282 last year before dropping to 300 by the year end, lost the first set before bouncing back strongly to clinch the issue against Delgado, ranked 198.
The 25-year-old Mumbaikar became the second Indian qualifier after Sandeep Kirtane to make it to the main draw. Kirtane made it to the main draw as qualifier in 1996 in the first edition held at New Delhi.
However, Vinodh Sridhar, the other Indian in the final qualifying round, lost to top seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 3-6, 4-6.
Patience, on only his second trip to the city, showed his craft to tame the highly rated Schuettler. The notable aspect of Patience's game was his attitude on court and he never gave any chance for the German to come back into the match.
Patience, whose highlight in 2004 remains just a quarterfinal entry in Estroil, rose to a 4-1 lead in quick time and was broken only once in the sixth game of the first set.
The Frenchman broke back Schuettler, ranked 42 on ATP list, in the seventh and then held his own to win the set. All through the match, Schuettler just could not get his strong backhand returns going.
In the second set, Patience, ranked 120 in the world, looked nervous, especially in the fourth game.
With his hustling tactics working well, Patience took the first two games. Schuettler held his third game and then waited for the opportune moment to get on top of the Frenchman, who committed three double faults to give away the game.
Then on, it was different story as Patience stunned the German as he won points in quick succession.
Schuettler, on his part, never got anything right and wilted under pressure. On the other hand, Patience's percentage play helped him garner the last four games and pocked the match in style.
"I was never under any pressure before I took to the centre court but I became nervous in the fourth game of the second set," he said later.
"Overall, it is a good win for me since I was afraid to be here after the tsunami attack. I am playing Rainer for the first time but I gathered that he is a good backhand player and technically, I avoided playing him that way," Patience said.
Earlier, in the final qualifying round matches for the main draw, Harsh Mankad defeated higher ranked Jamie Delgado of Britain 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
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