Somdev, who had lost six consecutive first round matches after making a comeback at the London Olympics, rallied to beat fourth seed and 140th ranked rival 4-6 7-5 6-4 in the USD 75,000 hard court tournament.
Somdev, a wild card entrant, next faces Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel, who beat American Daniel Kosakowski 6-3 1-6 6-3 in his first round match.
The Indian, who missed the first half of the season as he was recuperating from a shoulder surgery, has slid to 733 in the singles ATP rankings.
