Melbourne:
Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri today found himself pitted against world number six Tomas Berdych in the opening round of the Australian Open men’s singles event starting on Monday.
Yuki, who will appear in the main draw of a singles event at the Grand Slam for the first time, could not have asked for a tougher draw.
Berdych had opted out of Czech Republic’s Davis Cup team when India hosted them for the World Group Play-off tie in September, 2015.
Courtesy his superb performance in 2015, the Delhi-lad broke the top-100 barrier for the first time in his career and ensured himself a direct entry into the first Major of the season.
Meanwhile, Saketh Myneni inched closer to the men’s singles draw by reaching the third round of the Qualifiers.
In the second round today, Myneni faced stiff resistance from Italian Lorenzo Giustino before prevailing 6-1 7-6(7) in one hour and 25 minutes.
Myneni broke the Italian twice to take the opening set. In the second set, the duo traded breaks before the Indian sealed it in the tie-breaker.
He needs one more win to qualify for the main draw and next faces 22nd seed Mirza Basic, world number 137, from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
