Somdev goes down fighting to Almagro

Somdev Devvarman gave world No 18 Nicolas Almagro a scare before losing his first round encounter in the Euro 370000 BCR Open in Bucharest, Romania.

Ranked 226 rungs below the Spaniard, Somdev took the first set before going down 7-6(6), 2-6, 5-7 in the clay court event after two hours and 25 minutes.

The Indian, who qualified for the main draw, saved one break-point in the first set and clinched the tie-breaker to go ahead.

However, the experienced Spaniard broke the Indian thrice in the second set apart from saving two of three break-points on his own serve to draw parity.

In the deciding set, Somdev had a chance to score the biggest win of his career but squandered two break-points while dropping serve twice and bowed out of the tournament.

Somdev is part of the Indian Davis Cup team which will take on hosts Romania in the World Group play-off tie from September 19.