Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan had his chances in the first set but struggled to cope with tremendous fightback by Mikhail Ledovskikh as the Indian bowed out of the Tianjn ATP Challenger, here today.
The sixth-seeded left-handed Jeevan lost his second round 6-7(0) 0-6 against the Russian, who is currently ranked 625 but was as high as 151 in 2008.
Jeevan, who had beaten Ledovskikh last month at Karshi Challenger, was serving for the first at 5-4 but the Russian turned the tables on the Indian and not only broke him but also blanked him in the tie-breaker.
The second set completely belonged to Ledovskikh as Jeevan failed to even get on board.
"He showed why he was so higher-ranked player earlier. He was too good today," Jeevan, ranked 301, said.
With Jeevan's defeat, no Indian is left in the competition, either in the singles or the doubles.
N Sriram Balaji had made a first round exit in both the singles and doubles. Jeevan had also lost his doubles first round yesterday.
