Davis Cup teammates Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal led India's charge at KPIT-MSLTA ATP Challenger by advancing to the singles second round, albeit in contrasting style, here today.
Fifth seed Ramkumar struggled past left-handed Russian Alexander Zhubrin 6-2 3-6 6-3 while Nagal fashioned an impressive 7-5 6-3 win over Spain's Marc Giner.
Joining them in the second round was Vijay Sundar Prashanth with an easy 6-2 6-3 win over young Jayesh Pungliya but it was curtains for N Sriram Balaji, who put up a valiant fight against sixth seed Serbian Nikola Milojevic in a 5-7 6-7 (2) defeat in his first round.
Also making an exit was Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash, who lost 4-6 2-6 to top seed Evgeny Donskoy in the USD 50,000 hard court event.
Ramkumar dominated proceedings initially as he took the opening set in just 27 minutes with a double break but after that he faced stiff resistance from the Russian who lost only four points on his serve in the second set. Zhubrin, ranked much lower than the Indian, was striking the ball powerfully, making it difficult for Ramkumar to return.
Ramkumar saved two breakpoints in the sixth game but netted a volley at 15-40 in the eighth game to allow the Russian serve out the second set in the next game.
After trading a break each, Ramkumar broke Zhubrin again in the sixth to lead 4-2 in the decider and served out the match in the ninth comfortably.
"It was tricky. There was a lot of bounce and swing on the court throughout. If you could hold the serve, you can play close. It was a matter of few points here and there. 1-2 points changed the second set for him and same for me in the third," Ramkumar, who will pair with the legendary Leander Paes for the doubles, said.
Asked about teaming up with Paes, Ramkumar said the veteran called him on Friday asking if they could play together and he gladly accepted the offer.
"I had to said 'Yes'. I wanted to play with him always," he said adding that he learnt how to remain focussed and play his best game when he spent time with Paes during two Davis Cup ties this year.
Nagal made a remarkable recovery in his match against the Spaniards as he reeled off four straight games from 3-5 to take the first set. In the process he saved six breakpoints when he was serving for the set and finished it with an ace.
Nagal impressed with his retrieving ability as he almost returned everything. The only blemish in his performance was his argument with chair umpire, who warned him for time violation.
A player has to play next point within 25 seconds but Nagal, according to the umpire took 32 seconds and that's why he was warned. There is no point penalty for time violation but the player can lose first serve for second warning.
Giner also struggled to cope with humidity and he also had an argument with the umpire for delay in getting towels.
Giner committed two double faults and hit a forehand long to hand Nagal a break chance, which the Indian converted. The Spaniard had lost it mentally as he quit without much fight after that.
Wild card Pungliya showed promise but was never a threat
to an experienced Prashanth. The local boy hit some fiery strokes but lacked accuracy and experience to negotiate tricky situations or capitalise on mistakes of the opponent.
Prashanth was solid with his service games in the opening set. Serving at 2-3, Pungliya twice approached net but Prashanth sent down backhand, passing winners both the time to create two break opportunities for him.
Pungliya saved two chances but sent a backhand out to offer a third chance to Prashanth, who took it this time to take a 4-2 lead. Under pressure, Pungliya committed two double faults and sent a backhand to net to let the Tamil Nadu boy walk away with the opening set.
There was a bit of fight in the second set but Prashanth broke Pungliya at love in the eighth game to again take lead. He dropped serve while serving for the set but broke back immediately to close the match.
Meanwhile top seeds in doubles, India's Purav Raja and Divij Sharan tamed a fighting French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4 7-6 (4) to advance to the quarterfinals.
"It was a good tough first match. Everybody try to get us. The good thing is that we know what we are doing being full time doubles players. They play mostly singles and had nothing to lose," said Raja.
Left-handed Sharan added, "We had everything at stake. The difference is not much in winning and losing in doubles.
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Meanwhile, third seed Indian Saketh Myneni overcame a sluggish start to tame Serbia's Danilo Petrovic 1-6 6-3 7-6 (3) to make it to the second round.
Myneni served big in the one-hour 27 minute match and next faces Sidharth Rawat, who had ousted qualifier Ranjeet Virali Murugesan.
