The opening day of the Chennai Open finished on a disappointing note for India as National grasscourt champion Vishal Uppal crashed out in the first round on Monday, when he lost 3-6, 1-6 to Jiri Vanek.
Uppal, playing the last match of the day on the show court, was overwhelmed by the Czech in less than an hour. Though the Indian Davis Cupper showed some resistance in the first set, he was completely outclassed in the second.
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Uppal, a wild-card entrant, won the first game of the second set on Vanek's serve but then lost six games in a row.
Results: Prakash Amritraj (Ind) bt Ricardo Mello (Bra) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; P Srichaphan (Tha)/ R Stepanek (Cze) bt Gilles Muller (Lux)/Cyril Saulnier (Fra) 6-4, 4-6, 10-4; Martin Damm (Cze)/Leander Paes (Ind) by A Fisher (Aus)/Justin Gimelstob (USA) 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-3; Jiri Vanek (Cze) bt Vishal Uppal (Ind) 6-3, 6-1; Rohan Bopanna (Ind) bt Rajeev Ram (USA) 7-6, 6-4 (Q); Marc Giquel (Fra) bt Michael Kohlmann (Ger) 7-6, 6-3 (Q); Michael Berrer (Ger) by Mariusz Fyrstenberg (Pol) 6-4, 7-5 (Q); Ivan Pastor (ESP) bt Michal Mertinak (Svk) 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 (Q); Kristof Vliegen (Bel) bt Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (Tpe) 6-3, 6-2; Tomas Behrend (Ger) bt Marcos Daniel (Bra) 6-3, 7-5; Bjorn Phau (Ger) bt Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-3, 6-0.
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