Vardhan in second round of Pune ATP Challenger

Reigning national champion Vishnu Vardhan beat Belgium's Yannik Reuter 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 6-3 to enter the second round of the KPIT-MSLTA ATP Challenger at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Complex here Monday.

World No.619 Vardhan justified the organisers faith in awarding him a wild card by serving over 25 aces in two hours and 35 minutes to edge past World No.339 Reuter and make it to the second round of an ATP event after a year.

After sharing the first two sets, the 27-year-old Indian set up an early break in the third game of the third set and held on to set up a credible win.

"I'm thankful to the organisers for giving me a wild card. It makes it easy for someone like me who is making a comeback after a four-month lay off," Vardhan said.

In an all Indian doubles affair, wild card entrants Somdev Devvarman and N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth registered a facile 6-2, 6-3 win over V.M. Ranjeet and N. Shriram Balaji to reach the quarter-finals.

In the first upset of the $50,000 tournament, Alexander Kudryatsev of Russia and German Richard Becker stunned fourth seeds Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.

Becker also made it to the second round by out-playing Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5, 6-1 in an hour and 20 minutes.