Aus Open: Somdev, Prakash advance; Yuki ousted

Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj began their Australian Open qualifying campaign with contrasting wins, but it was end of the road for Yuki Bhambri in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Somdev, seeded 27, made short work of local teen James Duckworth, winning 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the men's singles qualifying draw.

In contrast, Amritraj came from behind to beat Germany's Andre Begemann 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the second round.

However, Yuki Bhambri frittered away a strong start and lost his opening encounter 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 to Jan Minar of the Czech Republic.

Somdev will next take on Germany's Tobias Kamke while Amritraj meets French 25th seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

The main draw competition begins on Monday.