CHENNAI, India: Seventh seed Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan began the new year on the wrong foot as he crashed to a first-round defeat in the $430,000 ATP Chennai Open yesterday.
Lu, the 29-year-old veteran ranked 59th in the world, failed to shrug off the rustiness of the off-season to lose to number 123 Matthias Bachinger of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
The big-built Bachinger next plays Roberto Agut of Spain, who beat Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 7-6 (8/6), 6-2. There was no early trouble for fifth-seeded Benoit Paire of France, who brushed aside Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 18 minutes. Indian wildcard Somdev Devvarman, fit again after an injury-prone year that saw him slip to 663 in the rankings, beat number 106 Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3. AFP
