From correspondents in Paris, France, 04:00 PM IST

India No.1 Somdev Devvarman survived a stern test from Brazilian Joao Souza 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 to advance to the second round of the men's qualifiers of the French Open tennis.

Somdev was trailing 3-5 in the decider after Souza drew parity in the second set but fought back to win the match in nearly two-and-a-half hours here Tuesday.

He next plays Briton Alex Bogdanovic Thursday.

Somdev is now the sole Indian in the fray after Prakash Amritraj made a first round exit with a 4-6, 4-6 loss to third-seed Brazilian Marcos Daniel.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)