28 July,2009 10:47 AM IST | | IANS
Indians had a mixed day in the qualifiers at the LA Tennis Open as Somdev Devvarman made the main draw while his US-based compatriot Prakash Amritraj lost out in a tight contest.
Somdev, ranked second in the qualifiers, won his final qualifying round yesterday against fifth-seeded American Alex Bogomolov 7-5, 6-2 while unseeded Prakash lost 5-7, 6-7 (0) to sixth-seeded Ryan Sweeting of the United States.
Somdev will now run into fifth seed Igor Kunitsyn of Russia in the first round of the main draw later today.
Somdev, who has struggled on the Tour after a brilliant start to the season by entering the Chennai Open final, beating a Grand Slam winner Carlos Moya on the way, made sure of earning at least $5,680 as prize money for playing in the first round; if he crosses the hurdle he can make $9,590.
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The other two qualifiers for the main draw were American Carstell Ball who beat compatriot and fourth seed Donald Young 6-3, 6-0, and top-seeded Frenchman Josselin Ouanna who beat Serbian Dusan Vemic 6-3, 6-2.
