Chandigarh, May 24, 2016
Fifth seeded Indian N Sriram Balaji had a smooth first-round victory in singles as he defeated qualifier Pulatov Sardor of Uzbekistan in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 in the $ 25,000 Uzbekistan F3 Futures Tennis Tournament in Andijan today.
Firing eight aces Balaji won the match in one hour and 10 minutes. The Indian player committed one double fault and had won maximum eight games in a row. Balaji won four of nine break points.
Sardor got four aces to his credit and committed one double fault.
Balaji won the first set after breaking his rival in the 11th game and next held his serivce to record verdict by 7-5. In the second set, Balaji dropped just one game. He broke Sardor in the first and fifth games to emerge winner by 6-1 and moved into second round.
Indian qualifier Shahbaaz Khan also won his first round match in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 against Alexander Ovcharov of Russia in one hour and 27 minutes. Shahbaaz played a consistent game. With one ace and one double fault, Shahbaaz won all his nine service games and won three of 12 break points.
In the first set, Shahbaaz broke service of Alexander in the fifth game and maintained his pressure as he won the set at 6-4. By earning breaks in the third and seventh games, Shahvaaz won the second set by 6-2.
Alexander got three aces to his credit by committed five double faults.
Earlier Shahbaaz Khan had beaten Rasul Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-3 in the final qualifying round match.