Vardhan shines at Tashkent Challenger

Tashkent (Uzbekistan): Davis Cup debutant Vishnu Vardhan scored a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over lucky loser Sergey Shipilov of Uzbekistan to enter the second round of USD 1,25,000 Tashkent Challenger at the Olympic school tennis courts. Vardhan also made it to the quarterfinals of the doubles event along with partner Divij Sharan Vishnu. Vardhan who was awarded the Wild card for the event, was scheduled to take on sixth seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil ranked 124 in the world. However, with Pospisil not turning up for the event, he was replaced by the 18-year-old Uzbek junior champion Shipilov. Vardhan looked rusty in the first set after his long flight and made some unforced errors but the youngster soon found his rhythm in the first set tie break and from then on he served to maintain his supremacy in the one hour and 19 minute match. Vardhan, ranked at 453, will next take on Denys Molchanov of Ukraine. In the doubles, Vardhan and left-handed Divij Sharan scored a 6-3, 0-6, 10-4 win over Jan Hernych of Czech Republic and Jurgen Zopp of Estonia to reach the quarters. PTI