Indian seeds advance in Chandigarh ITF Futures

Rising India star Ramkumar Ramanathan fought off Sweden's Lucas Renard in two tight sets to advance to the second round of the USD 10,000 ITF Futures tournament, here today.
Ramkumar, who caught attention by beating Somdev Devvarman in Chennai Open last month, faced stiff resistance from lower-ranked Swede before prevailing 7-6 (5) 6-3 in his opening round at CLTA stadium.
Also progressing to the next round was local boy and seventh seed Vijayant Malik, who thrashed compatriot Vinayak Sharma Kaza 6-3 6-0.
Third seed N Sriram Balaji had a tough day as he edged past Japanese Sho Katayama 7-6(4) 6-3 while Ronak Manuja ousted Japanese qualifier Ko Suzuki 7-6(2) 6-3.

Balaji will now clash with Vignesh Peranamallur, who beat compatriot Sagar Ahuja 6-1 6-2.
Top seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and second seed Sanam Singh, who won Delhi Open doubles with Saketh Myneni, will open their respective campaigns tomorrow.
Jeevan will lock horns with Abhijeet Tiwari while Sanam clashes with Taipei's Jui-Chen Hung.