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Prakash Amritraj ousted from French Open qualifiers

May 19, 2009 21:19 IST

Prakash Amritraj tested third seed and world No 96 Marcos Daniel of Brazil before crashing out of the French Open qualifying event in Paris on Tuesday.

The unseeded Indian ace fought well but erred at crucial junctures and lost the first round match 4-6, 4-6.

In a keenly contested first set, both the players fired six aces each but Daniel was more accurate with his first serve and converted the only breakpoint Prakash offered.

The Indian on the other hand wasted one such opportunity and conceded the lead.

It was imperative for Prakash to get an early break in the second set and stay alive, but he failed to do that despite getting a chance in the fourth game.

Daniel was ruthless in his approach and converted the second of two breakpoints in the ninth game to go up 5-4 and served out the set in the next game.

Indian fans will now look to Somdev Devvarman to clear the qualifying hurdle and compete in the men's singles draw.

Somdev, India's number one and world number 138, has been seeded 26th in the qualifying event and will open his campaign against Brazil's world No 223 Joao Souza.

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