Somdev fails to enter main draw

Jan. 16. Somdev Devvarman tripped at the doorstep of the Australian Open and failed to qualify for the main draw, losing his third and last qualifying round to Slovenian Blaz Kavcic, 3-6, 6-7 (4) here on Saturday.
Somdev could have won both the sets as he had an early service break in the first and in the second he was serving for the set at 5-3.
In the battle of baseliners, Somdev ranked 161 and seeded 27th, snatched an early break for a 3-2 lead but the 12th-seeded Kavcic forced his way back to take the next four games.
Somdev, struggled with his serve in the second set and was soon a failure.
The Indian, however, recovered in the sixth game and was soon serving for the set at 5-3. But he once again dropped his serve.
Kavcic then held serve for 5-5 and as Somdev prepared to serve, the 126th-ranked Slovenian called for a medical time-out. He returned to the court to hold his serve and was force a tie-breaker.
After losing the tie-breaker and the match, an angry Somdev refused to shake Kavcic’s hand at the net, thereby losing the entrance into the main draw.
Yuki Bhambri and Prakash Amritraj had also made it to the singles qualifying draw but lost in the first and second round respectively.
Yet again, Sania Mirza will India’s lone challenge in the singles when she competes in the women's main draw.