Odishatv Bureau
Melbourne: India`s Somdev Devvarman went down fighting to Tommy Robredo of Spain in straight sets 6-7(4) 3-6 4-6 in the first round of the Australian Open men`s singles here on Monday.

Somdev, ranked 108, posed some threat to the world number 52 Robredo, who was once ranked as high as number 5, but eventually failed to sustain in a contest that lasted two hours and 37 minutes.

The gutsy 25-year-old Indian, who was handed a wild card after his impressive performance last year, tested the Spianrd in the first set, but the latter brought all his experience to ultimately prevail with a 7-6 win.

Somdev, making his debut in the Australian Open, could not overcome the first round jinx this year, as he had lost in the Aircel Chennai Open tournament opening round as well in the beginning of 2011.

With this loss, India`s challenge in men`s singles is over.

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