Ankita Raina starts with win in Shenzhen, Ramkumar loses Phoenix Challenger opener

As India No 1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran put together a stunning third-round run at the ATP 1,000 Masters tournament at Indian Wells, most other players from the country failed to make the most of their chances on tour.

Ramkumar Ramanathan lost in the first round at the ATP Challenger event in Phoenix, USA, to Serbia’s Peda Krstin on Tuesday. The 24-year-old could never get a grip in the match and lost in straight sets 2-6, 4-6.

Sumit Nagal did one better at the ATP Challenger event in Drummondville, Canada, by defeating America’s Kevin King 6-3, 6-3 in the first round. But the 21-year-old couldn’t build on that victory and lost to Frenchman Tristan Lamasine 2-6, 3-6 in the round of 32.

Ankita Raina, though, had a better outing on the court on Wednesday. The 26-year-old defeated China’s Feng Shuo 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the $60,000 ITF event in Shenzhen, China.

Other results

Here’s how Indians fared on the ATP Challenger and International Tennis Federation tours across countries:

• Saketh Myneni lost to Dominican Republic’s Jose Hernandez-Fernandez 2-6, 6-7 in the round of 64 at the ATP Challenger event in Shenzhen, China.
• Sasi Kumar Mukund defeated local player He Yecong 6-3, 6-2 in the round of 64 at the ATP Challenger event in Shenzhen, China. He faces the experienced Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the next round on Wednesday.
• Vishnu Vardhan will team up with Luca Margaroli and play Karim-Mohamed Maamoun and Baptiste Cripatte in the men’s doubles round of 16 at the ATP Challenger event in Shenzhen, China, on Wednesday.
• N Sriram Balaji and Zhe Li lost to Goncalo Oliveira and Hans Hach Verdugo 3-6, 4-6 in the men’s doubles round of 16 at the ATP Challenger event in Shenzhen, China.
• Vijay Sundar Prasanth lost to Belgium’s Arnaud Bovy 2-6, 5-7 in the round of 32 at the $15,000 ITF Qatar event on Tuesday. He will now team up with Alexander Igoshin and play Ricardo Rodríguez and Mousa Shanan Zayed in the men’s doubles round of 16 on Wednesday.
• Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha lost to Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka 0-6, 3-6 in the round of 32 at the $15,000 ITF Qatar event on Tuesday. He will now team up with compatriot Manish Sureshkumar and play Jesper De Jong and Michiel De Krom in the men’s doubles round of 16 on Wednesday.
• Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam lost to Lebanon’s Giovani Samaha 4-6, 3-6 in the round of 32 at the $15,000 ITF Qatar event on Tuesday. He will now team up with compatriot Sidharth Rawat and play Guy Den Heijer and Sidane Pontjodikromo in the men’s doubles round of 16 on Wednesday.
• Sidharth Rawat defeated Qatar’s Jabor Al-Mutawa 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 32 at the $15,000 ITF Qatar event on Tuesday.
• Manish Sureshkumar lost to Netherlands’ Michiel De Krom 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 in the round of 32 at the $15,000 ITF Qatar event on Tuesday.
• Aryan Goveas teamed up with Robert Strombachs to defeat Michael Vrbensky and David Poljak 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the men’s doubles round of 16 at the $15,000 ITF Egypt event on Tuesday. Goveas is also competing in the men’s singles and will play Italy’s Francesco Forti in the round of 32.
• Haadin Bava teamed up with Ronald Gabas and lost 2-6, 3-6 against Mirko Martinez and Remy Bertola in the round of 16 at the $15,000 ITF Egypt event on Tuesday.

(Source: Scroll.in)