Davis Cup | Ramkumar Ramanathan goes down to Laslo Djere in a thriller as Serbia take 1-0 lead
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Ramkumar Ramanathan has fought tooth and nail in an encounter against Laslo Djere of Serbia, but the latter eventually got the better of him by a margin of 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(2), 2-6 in the opening singles of their Davis Cup tie. Now, India trail Serbia 0-1 in the World Group Play-off tie in Kraljevo.
Ramkumar was at the pole position in the match by winning the opening set with a break of serve in the sixth game. Djere couldn’t fight up to his true potential and faltered on the second breakpoint, sending a forehand returning but the Indian was solid with his returns from the baseline.Â
Ramakumar’s dominance in the game was completely seen when an easy hold in the next game put him ahead 5-2 as he served out the set in the ninth game. The Serb hit a backhand wide from an advantageous position, but with Ramkumar standing at the middle of the net, he attempted a passing winner and ended up hitting outside the lines. After that, the Chennai boy decided to charge to the net several times in the second set and secured a few points in the match.
However, Djere reduced his errors and hardly lost points on his serve to lead 5-4. Serving at 4-5, Ramkumar failed to pick up a half-volley and his backhand slice hit the net, handing the Serbian two set points to Djere. Ramakumar needed a good serve at this crunch situation but his double fault forced the game into the decider.
Ramkumar hit a backhand shot to the net on the second break point in the second game of the third set to trail 0-2. But the Serbian didn’t enjoy the best of serves after that which got the Indian back on serve. Ramkumar saved a break-point in the 12th game to force a tie-breaker in which Djere secured a 4-0 lead before closing the set with an ace.
Now, India would be heavily depending on Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who will take on World No. 56 Dusan Lajovic.
