Ramkumar reaches quarterfinals of Bengaluru Open after defeating top seed Nardi

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Bengaluru. India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan pulled off a sensational win over top-seeded Luca Nardi of Italy to reach the singles quarterfinals of the Bengaluru Open at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) Stadium here on Wednesday.

Ramkumar, who has been given a wild card for this tournament, was looking dejected and out of form after the opening set but his big serving helped him beat Nardi 1-1 in one hour and 33 minutes in the second round encounter on Center Court. Defeated 6, 6-4, 6-4.

In other matches of the day, Poland’s Maks Kasnikowski got the better of fourth seed Benjamin Bonzi of France 6-3, 6-4 in the second round, while another Indian SD Prajjwal Dev got the better of fifth seed Adam Walton of Australia in the first round. Had to face defeat in the round match by 3-6, 0-6.

The prestigious ATP Challenger event is being organized by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, with the final taking place on Sunday.

Earlier, when things were not going his way, Ramkumar registered the biggest upset of the day.

In the opening set, Ramkumar struggled to find his serving rhythm and this also affected his ability to return.

However, the big-serving Indian regrouped at the start of the second set and won 93% of first-serve points and never faced a break point in the set. In contrast, Nardi’s serve was put under regular pressure to take the match to a decider.

The final set followed the same pattern, with Ramkumar hitting five aces and even increasing his second service percentage to close out the match.

He will now face the winner of the match between ninth seed Seongchan Hong of South Korea and Russian qualifier Alexei Zakharov.

–IANS

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