Somdev Devvarman bowed out of the men’s singles tournament at the very first hurdle after being thrashed 6-3, 6-1 by Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.
On a day when India’s Vishnu Vardhan was awarded a spot in the singles tournament, Devvarman was easily swept aside by the Finn in a rain-affected tie.
Devvarman began well but his first serve let him down as he lost the first set in 37 minutes. Even though there was a long rain interruption at the start of the second set, he couldn’t turn things around as the 31-year old Nieminen wrapped up the match in straight sets.
The doubles matches involving the pairs of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan were postponed to Wednesday due to rain
Meanwhile, Andy Murray returned on Sunday to the court where he lost this month’s Wimbledon final and won his opening match at the Olympics. The third-seeded Briton beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland under the retractable roof on Centre Court 6-3, 6-3.
The roof was closed because of rain that curtailed play on the 11 other courts.
Murray had also beaten Wawrinka in the first full match under the roof at Wimbledon in 2009.
Earlier, Vishnu Vardhan was awarded a spot in the singles draw to replace the injured Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
Vardhan was given a last-minute place after the Germany player withdrew with a right hamstring injury.
Ranked 302 in the world, Vishnu was the highest-ranked player eligible to contest the men’s singles. He faces World No.77 Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia in the first round.
Vardhan 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.
