Amritraj falls to qualifier King

Qualifier Phillip King of USA brought an end to Prakash Amritraj's run in the second round of the USD 25,000 ATP Challenger in Dharwad on Thursday.

After a close first set, King raced away to a 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-1 victory over the sixth-seeded Indian to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. King had beaten Indian Davis Cupper and wild card entrant Vishal Uppal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

Rohan Bopanna is the only Indian remaining in the singles draw of the event after Sunil Kumar Sipaeya and Kiran Nandakumar bowed out in the first round on Wednesday.

Second seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, who won the Chikmagalur leg, was ousted by the big-serving Australian Luke Bourgeois. The Australian fired more than 20 aces to beat Udomchoke 7-6(3), 6-4.

Also proceeding to the second round was Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, whose opponent Adrian Cruciat retired after trailing the match 7-5, 2-1. Qureshi will take on number one seed Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea in the second round.

In doubles on Wednesday, Karan Rastogi and Ashutosh Singh upset third seeded Indo-Pak duo of Qureshi and Mustafa Ghouse in the first round. Rastogi-Singh fought back from a set down and clinched the third set tie-break to register a 6-4, 7-5, 10-6 win over their more-experienced opponents.

Second seeds Amritraj-Bopanna beat compatriots Uppal and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya 7-6 (6), 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals.