Somdev seeded third for Pune ATP Challenger

Indian Davis Cupper and World No.143 tennis player Somdev Devvarman was Saturday named the third seed while Yuki Bhambri, ranked 183, was seeded seventh for the Oct 18-25 KPIT-MSLTA ATP Challenger to be played at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here.

World No.118 Aleksander Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan, gold medallist of the Incheon Asian Games men's team event, was named the top seed followed by Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev, currently ranked 126.

Asian Games mixed doubles bronze medallist Yuichi Sugita of Japan, ranked 154th, was chosen the fourth seed.

Spaniard Adrian Menendez-Maceiras, ranked 162nd, was seeded 6th while Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium, ranked 202nd, will be the eighth seed.

National champion Vishnu Vardhan, Siddarth Rawat, Arjun Kadhe and Sasikumar Mukund have been awarded wild cards for the main draw.

According to the draws made Saturday, Nedovyesov is expected to clash with Hiroki Moriya of Japan in the quarter-finals while fourth seeded Yuichi will take on Bhambri in the last eight stage.

Somdev is likely to clash with Coppejans in the quarter-finals while Kudryatsev, in all likelihood, will face sixth seeded Menendez-Maceiras.

The tournament is being organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA).