Indian qualifier Divij Sharan saved a match point against local wild card Wei Qiang Zheng in a three-set contest, while Karunuday Singh ousted eighth seed David Perez Sanz to move to the singles second round of the China International 2015 here today.
The left-handed Indian came from behind to beat his Chinese opponent 3-6 7-5 7-6(2) in the opening round, which lasted two hours and one minute.
Divij next faces China's Yan Bai, who shocked second-seeded Australian Luke Saville 6-4 7-6(4).
Karunuday also rallied to beat his rival 6-7 (4) 6-4 6-4 in another gruelling first round match that lasted two hours and 17 minutes.
Divij played attacking brand of tennis as he approached the net more often to unsettle his rival. The strategy paid off well for the Indian.
After taking a set each, the third was locked 5-5 when Divij was broken, allowing Zheng to serve out the match in the next.
However, Divij not only saved a match point in the 12th game but also broke back his rival to stretch the match to a tie-breaker.
It was one-way traffic in the tie-break with Divij opening up a 4-0 lead, yet again coming on the net to dispatch volleys. From such a healthy lead, it was a matter of time for Divij to close the match.
However, the road ended for N Vijay Sundar Prashanth, who lost his first round 7-6(4) 2-6 4-6 to fifth seed Taipei player Tsung-Hua Yang.
