Somdev Devvarman stormed into the quarterfinals of the South Africa Open tennis with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Brazalian Thiago Alves. He now plays second seed and World No.18 David Ferrer of Spain.
It needed Somdev, ranked 162, just 67 minutes to close the match. The Indian won 81 per cent of service point, hit six aces and saved all three break points he faced.
“I really like playing here, my opponent was not as healthy as he wanted to be, but even then I played a good match and am happy to pull through,” Somdev said.
“He admitted it was jetlag and that he had not slept until six this morning. The tiredness seemed to hit him towards the end of the first set. I’m really excited to be playing another match.”
Last year’s Johannesburg semifinalist Ferrer advanced to the quarterfinals beating qualifier Filip Prpic of Sweden 6-3, 6-4.
