Ramkumar Ramanathan wins first singles tennis title at Challenger tournament in Bahrain

The 27-year-old Ramanathan beat his unseeded opponent Karlovskiy, ranked 302 in the world, 6-1, 6-4. Prior to this, the world no.22 Ramanathan had lost in six Challenger finals, before turning pro in 2009. Meanwhile, he had played his last final at the Cary Challenger in July.

On his route to the final, Ramanathan beat Great Britain’s Jay Clarke in the semis, Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal in the quarters, Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic in the second round, and Ukraine’s Vladyslav Orlov. On the other hand, another Indian in the fray, Arjun Kadhe lost in the qualifying round, while Mukund Sasikumar and the fifth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran, lost in the opening rounds.

Partnering Kadhe, Ramanathan also managed to reach the semis in the men's doubles, but lost 6-3, 1-6, 10-7 to the Portuguese duo of Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral.

This win is expected to make Ramanathan as the highest-ranked Indian in the world, while his career-best ranking has been 111, which he achieved in July 2018.

For now, Gunneswaran is leading the Indian charts at 215, while Sumit Nagal is at 219.