Vardhan replaces injured Kohlschreiber in men's singles draw

A lucky Vishnu Vardhan joined Somdev Devvarman in the men's singles event of the tennis competition at the Olympics Games as he replaced injured Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the draw on Sunday.

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Vardhan was given a last-minute place after the German player withdrew with a right hamstring injury.

Ranked 302 in the world, Vardhan was the highest-ranked player eligible to contest the men's singles and faces World No 77 Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia in the first round later on Sunday.

Vardhan has won three ITF Futures events this year and is projected to reach a career-high ranking as a result of his inclusion in the men's singles draw.

He is competing in the men's doubles with Leander Paes. They will open their campaign against Dutch pair of Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer on Sunday.