Ramkumar Ramanathan stuns Daniel Cimeno in Chennai open

Home favourite Somdev fails to cross first round

Apart from being a tennis pro, Andrey Rublev practices boxing and idolises Mike Tyson. Demonstr-ating swift footwork of a pugilist, the Russian teen counterpunched his way to send India’s Somdev Devvarman crashing out of the ATP Chennai Open here on Tuesday. The 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 defeat was Somdev’s third successive first round defeat here.

It was not all gloom for India on Tuesday as Ramkumar Ramanathan scripted a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win over Spanish journeyman Daniel Gimeno-Traver to storm into the second round. The Chennai boy will now run into world no. 12 Kevin Anderson, who is seeded no. 2.

Up against a player who has been on the Tour since 2004, Ramkumar showed no signs of nervousness as he blasted his way to take the first set, breaking his opponent twice.

Though he converted only four of the seven breakpoint opportunities in the second set, it was more than enough for Ramkumar to humiliate his 30-year-old opponent 6-0. He let out a war cry to celebrate one of his biggest moments.

Few expected the match to be a lop-sided affair and Ramkumar himself was no different. “I didn’t expect it to be so convincing. I, however, had to stay positive and fight for every point. I have worked hard on my fitness with my Spanish coach Joan Balcells and the victory can be attributed to my improved fitness level,” said Ramkumar.

Earlier, given the momentum he brought along as a qualifier and holding a slight edge in terms of rankings, Somdev, world no. 177th, started as favourite against Rublev whose entry into the main draw was facilitated by a wild card. Much to the excitement of the sparse centre court crowd, Somdev raced to a 2-0 lead after breaking Rublev in the very first game. But it didn’t take too long for Rublev to come back roaring from 1-3 down. He pocketed five games in a row to snatch the first set.

A breakpoint in the fourth game of the second set was all Somdev needed to restore parity. As the match dragged to the decider, it was about who blinked first. The Russian, one of the very few teenagers in top 200, had an opportunity to go 3-1 up, but Somdev, down 30-40, used his serve effectively to save the breakpoint. However, Somdev shot himself in the foot by making a double fault in his next service game before letting the Russian runaway with a 4-2 lead. Rublev will take on no. 1 seed Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday.

Getting broken at 2-3, Somdev said, was the deciding moment of the match. “I wasn’t happy with the way I moved in the third set. The sharpness required to win points at crucial juncture was missing. I had my share of chances, but I made some mental errors and they put me down in the end. That was the frustrating part of my defeat,” said Somdev.

Somdev said it wasn’t a bad start to go down to a player who is one of the brightest sparks in world tennis now. “Overall, I feel I am in a better place than last year. Coming off a disappointing year, two good victories in qualifying was a big confidence booster. There are a few things I can do better, in the coming weeks,” added Somdev. Results (Round 1): Andrey Rublev (Rus) bt Somdev Devvarman (Ind) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp) bt Taro Daniel (Jpn) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Austin Krajicek (USA) bt Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-7(0), 6-4, 6-4; Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) bt Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Esp) 6-2, 6-0; Lukas Rosol (Cze) bt Santiago Giraldo (Col) 6-3, 6-4.