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The 5th seed Yuichi Sugita is off to a strong start in Pune, beating Thomas Fabbiano 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 12 minutes for the second win of the season. Playing better on both the first and second serve, the Japanese had the edge in the pivotal moments, fending off six out of seven break chances and delivering five breaks to control the scoreboard all the time.
Sugita claimed the opening four games, wasting game points for a 5-0 lead and closing the set in the ninth game on his fourth set point, fending off three break chances for a 6-3. With nothing left in the tank, Fabbiano dropped serve thrice in set number two, allowing Yuichi to deliver a bagel and race into the second round.
The 7th seed Salvatore Caruso took down Ramkumar Ramanathan 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in two hours and 23 minutes, withstanding 17 aces from the Indian and repelling eight out of ten break chances to limit the damage in his games and keep the pressure on the other side of the net.
Ramkumar fought well but it wasn't enough in the end, getting broken three times from nine chances offered to the Italian and finishing on the losing side despite a promising start. The Indian grabbed a break in the sixth game of the opener to take it 6-3 after staying focused in his games, barely winning a point in the first four games of the second set and falling 5-2 down following a break for Caruso in game six.
Ramanathan pulled the break back at 3-5 to prolong the set, only to suffer a break in game ten and hand the set to his opponent. The third set produced ten commanding holds before Caruso fended off a couple of break chances at 5-5, delivering a break in the next game to seal the deal and move into the last 16.
The finalist from the previous year Ivo Karlovic lost to Cerdik-Marcel Stebe 6-3, 6-4 in 64 minutes, fending off all eight break chances and delivering one break in each set to move through in straight sets. Karlovic wasted six break chances in the first game of the encounter that could have given him a boost, losing serve at 2-3 and wasting two more break points in the next game before the German closed the opener with a hold at 15 in game nine.
Cedrik-Marcel sailed through his service games in set number two, breaking Ivo at love at 2-2 and sealing the deal with a hold at love in game ten. 