Somdev wins first round

Indias Somdev Devvarman overcame the first hurdle to stay on course for a place in the singles main draw of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami but compatriot Yuki Bhambri crashed out after losing his first round qualifying match in the 3,645,000 event on Monday. Somdev found some early resistance before he swept aside his French opponent David Guez 7-6 3 6-4.

He now faces third seeded Ukrainian Illya Marchenko,who downed Joao Souza 6-1 6-3 in another first-round encounter.

Yuki Bhambri,meanwhile,proved no match for top seed Denis Istomin as the Uzbek beat him 6-1 6-3.