Somdev stuns top gun

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Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman eliminated defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Tuesday at the $1.76 million ATP and WTA Washington Open.
World number 129 Devvarman, a two-time US college champion ranked 104 spots below Ukranian ninth seed Dolgopolov, advanced to the round of 16, where he could face US eighth seed John Isner on Thursday.
“I’m very happy. That guy is a tough player, no question,” Devvarman said. “I played really well. in the beginning. he gave me a couple errors to break him.
“He fought back in the second set. I was serving well. It kept me in the match. I gave myself looks on his serve. It was just confidence.”
Devvarman, who went to India after Wimbledon to work with a Chennai-based charity called “Life is a Ball,” feels on top of his game. “I’m pretty sharp,” he said. “Physically for sure.”
American Ryan Harrison ousted Australian former world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 7-5 to book a Wednesday second-round match against Argentine top seed Juan Martin Del Potro, a two-time Washington winner and the 2009 US Open champion.
If Del Potro advances, he would face 20-year-old Aussie Bernard Tomic in the round of 16. Tomic advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Belgium’s David Goffin, avenging a first-round loss last year at Wimbledon.
“I played not so bad,” Tomic said. “Very tough conditions. Very difficult to play 100 per cent on these courts because it’s so hot and so humid.”
Two other Aussies won as well, with wildcard James Duckworth downing Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-2 and Marinko Matosevic ousting Russian 15th seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5.
Women’s top seed Angelique Kerber of Germany connected on only 39 percent of her first serves but still dominated US qualifier Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3 to book a second-round date with American Melanie Oudin.
Britain’s Heather Watson rallied past US qualifier Alexandra Mueller 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 and will play for a quarter-final berth against French fourth seed Alize Cornet.