Rohan Bopanna ran out of steam in the deciding set and lost his second round match against top seed Yen-Hsun Lu, in the US $125,000 Tashkent Challenger at the Olympic Tennis School in Uzbekistan on Thursday.
Bopanna won the first set but eventually lost 6-3, 5-7, 0-6 against his Chinese Taipei opponent in the hard-court event.
The Indian, who had qualified for the main draw, started off well, breaking Lu in the eighth game to go up 5-3. He then served two brilliant aces to close the first set 6-3.
The second set was a closely-fought affair as both players held serve till the sixth game.
Bopanna had four break points in the seventh game but failed to convert any of them and let Lu hold on to his serve.
In the 10th game Bopanna saved three set points and held his serve to level scores at 5-5.
Lu brought out all his experience as he played brilliant baseline tennis, using a mix of top spin and backhand slices to force Bopanna into making unforced errors and broke the Indian in the 12th game to pocket the second set.
Bopanna looked disoriented in the deciding set, struggling to get in his first serve and failed to get on board, dropping serve in the second, fourth and sixth games.
"I'm very happy with my win", said Lu after the match ."Rohan was serving very well, but I played some good tennis", he added.
"I had many break points in the second set , and I should have converted them. If I did not utilize these opportunities how could I win" said Bopanna.
In the other matches, second seeded Dudi Sela had to fight out a late challenge from Kazakhstan's Yuri Schukin to post a 6-1, 7-6(7-1) victory.
Fifth seeded German Bjorn Phau did not have to exert himself, registering an easy 6-3,6-3 win over Thailand's Danai Udamchoke .
In the quarter-finals on Friday,. Lu will clash with Bjorn Phau, fourth seeded Berrer will play Czech Republic's Pavel Snobel , sixth seeded local favorite Denis Istomin will take on third seeded German Denis Gremelmayr ,while second seed Sela will play Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt.
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