Houdini act: Ramkumar discovered his rhythm within the nick of time towards Janvier.
| Photograph Credit score: SUDHAKARA JAIN
Ramkumar Ramanathan fought again from the brink, from a set and three match factors down, to beat France’s Maxime Janvier 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 and enter the second spherical of the dafaNews Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger, right here on Monday.
The wild card entrant’s keep within the singles draw on the Backyard Metropolis appeared set to finish the identical approach because it had final week in Chennai — with a first-round defeat.
However the 29-year-old clawed his approach again miraculously for under his first important draw match win since November 2022.
On the day, fortunes swung forwards and backwards within the opening set as Ramkumar and Janvier couldn’t calibrate their video games to match the pomp of the immaculately laid KSLTA courts contained in the leafy and pristine Cubbon Park.
The duo traded breaks early on and the competition inevitably slipped right into a tie break.
As soon as there, Ramkumar made the primary transfer, going up 4-1. However Janvier reeled off six straight factors to pocket the set.
Within the second stanza, the 2 stored tempo with one another till one dangerous service sport at 4-5 noticed Ramkumar staring down the barrel. Nevertheless, he saved all three, levelled at 5-5 and broke to go 6-5 up.
That final return sport confirmed his heightened confidence, particularly the fierce slapped return to carry up the break level.
Ramkumar carried that perception, first to carry serve to take the match into the decider after which break Janvier’s serve within the third sport of the third set.
From there on, there was no wanting again for the Indian.
Australian Bernard Tomic entered the primary draw after defeating Jonas Forejtek of Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 within the ultimate qualifying spherical.
The outcomes (first spherical): Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Maxime Janvier (Fra) 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4; Moez Echargui (Tun) bt Duje Ajdukovic (Cro) 6-2, 6-4; Gauthier Onclin (Bel) bt Giovanni Fonio (Ita) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5).
