Indian hope rest on Bhupathi

JULY 1: Indian hopes rest firmly on Mahesh Bhupathi now in the men8217;s doubles draw, as both Indian junior hopes Sunil Kumar and Sonal Phadke lose in the first round of the qualifiers at Roehampton. While Briton Tom Bern ended Sunil8217;s hopes with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win, another local, Cristal Griel, scuttled MSLTA trainee Sonal8217;s chances of getting into the main draw. Griel won 4-6, 7-5, 9-7 in a tough three-setter.

Prakash Amritraj, the LA-based son of Vijay, cleared the first hurdle, but went down to Kiwi Rado Vanovich 2-6, 2-6 in the second and final round of qualifying. Incidentally, Indian Davis Cup captain Ramesh Krishnan is taking part in the over-35 invitational doubles and Vijay and Anand Amritraj will be taking to the courts in the over-45 invitational event.