Ramkumar goes down fighting to Malek Jaziri in ATP Maharashtra Open
Ramkumar Ramanathan went down with guns blazing in the pre-quarterfinals to fourth seed Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-3 in the $589,680 Tata Maharashtra Open ATP tennis tournament in Pune on Wednesday.
That brought an end to the Indian challenge in singles in the event, as Ramkumar alone had progressed into the second round among the three wild card entrants of the host, after qualifier Saketh Myneni had withdrawn owing to a foot injury.
Ramkumar had beaten Marcel Granollers 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. Arjun Kadhe went down in two tight sets to Laslo Djere of Serbia, who later lost in two tie-breaks to the top seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the pre-quarterfinals.
In doubles, top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan sailed into the quarterfinals, and will play Leander Paes and his partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela of Mexico.
Sriram Balaji and Arjun Kadhe lost to the British pair of Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara of Britain after having knocked out the second seeds Philipp Oswald and Tim Puetz.
The results:
Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt Laslo Djere (SRB) 7-6(3), 7-6(6); Jaume Munar (ESP) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 7-5, 6-0; Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-1; Benoit Paire (FRA) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-4, 6-2; Steve Darcis (BEL) bt Michael Mmoh (USA) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2; Malek Jaziri (TUN) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-3; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-4, 7-5; Ernests Gulbis (LAT) bt Hyeon Chung (KOR) 7-6(2), 6-2.
First round: Laslo Djere bt Arjun Kadhe 7-5, 7-6(6); Simone Bolelli bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-4, 6-4; Ilyas Ivashka bt Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 6-7(9), 6-2, 6-3; Jiri Vesely bt Antoine Hoang (FRA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Benoit Paire (FRA) bt Thiago Monteiro (BRA) 7-6(5), 6-3; Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-4, 7-5.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Gerard Granollers & Marcel Granollers (ESP) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR) & Igor Zelenay (SVK) 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-6; Luke Bambridge & Jonny O’Mara (GBR) bt Sriram Balaji & Arjun Kadhe 7-6(5), 6-1.
Pre-quarterfinals: Rohan Bopanna & Divij Sharan bt Radu Albot (MDA) & Malek Jaziri (TUN) 6-1, 6-2; Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) & Leander Paes bt David Marrero (ESP) & Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) 6-3, 6-4; Simone Bolelli (ITA) & Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Marcelo Arevalo (ESA) & Jamie Cerretani (USA) 4-6, 7-5, 10-7; Denys Molchanov (UKR & Igor Zelenay (SVK) bt Pablo Andujar & Robe Carballes Baena (ESP) 6-1, 6-4.
