Somdev and Sanam lose

Fourth seeds Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh were beaten 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 by second seeds Radu Albot of Moldova and Matthew Ebden of Australia in the doubles semifinals of the $50,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Burnie, Australia.

Purav Raja & Fabrice Martin win

Davis Cupper and former National champion Purav Raja continued with his good work as he made the doubles final of the €494,310 ATP Tour event on indoor hard courts in Zagreb, Croatia, with Fabrice Martin of France.

The Indo-French pair which beat top seeds Robert Lindsedt of Sweden and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 10-8 in the super tie-break in the quarterfinals, downed fourth seeds Sergey Beto and Alexander Bury of Belarus 3-6, 6-1, 10-6 in the semifinals.

In fact, Raja and Martin had won all their three matches in the super tie-break, in setting up a title clash with the second seeds Marin Draganja of Croatia and Henri Kontinen of Finland.

“We have been playing well in tight situations all week and the confidence has brought us here.

Draganja and Kontinen in the final should be a very good match as they are a young talented team who broke through last year. Beating Lindstedt and Matkowski in quarterfinals was satisfying as we were 1-5 down in the super tie-break,” said Raja, when contacted in Zagreb.

The results: $50,000 Challenger: Radu Albot & Matthew Ebden bt Somdev Devvarman & Sanam Singh 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.

494,310 ATP Tour: Semifinals: Fabrice Martin (Fra) & Purav Raja bt Sergey Beto & Alexander Bury (Blr) 3-6, 6-1, 10-6. Quarterfinals: bt Robert Lindsedt (Swe) & Marcin Matkowski (Pol) 6-3, 3-6, 10-8. Pre-quarterfinals: bt Dino Marcan & Antonio Sancic (Cro) 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.