Maharashtra Open 2022 | Ramkumar Ramanathan and Arjun Kadhe face defeats in opening rounds
A file image of Ramkumar Ramanathan.
|(Twitter)
On Tuesday, top-ranked Indian tennis players Ramkumar Ramanathan and Arjun Khade were eliminated in the first round of the Maharashtra Open 2022 ATP 250 event in Pune. Ramanathan was defeated by Italian eighth seed Stefano Travaglia 7(7)-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 in a match that lasted over two hours.
Meanwhile, Arjun Khade was defeated in two hours and 26 minutes by Joao Sousa of Portugal in the first round, 7(7)-6(5), 6(4)-7(7), 2-6. With two Indian defeats, Yuki Bhambri is the only Indian still alive in singles at this year's Maharashtra Open following his win on Monday.
Travaglia managed to equal the intensity shown by Ramkumar Ramanathan and made the set reach a tiebreaker.
The Indian blew a 5-2 tiebreaker advantage, handing the world No. 93 Italian a 1-0 lead in the match. Ramanathan fought back in the second set to take the match to a third set.
With the Italian ahead 3-2 in the fourth set, the match was set for a tight conclusion. Stefano Travaglia, on the other hand, broke Ramkumar Ramanathan's serve for the first point of the match to seize control. The Italian then won two of the following three games to advance to the pre-quarterfinals against Yuki Bhambri.
As for Arjun Khade, he had a good start but ended up losing the match. The match began on an even keel, with Arjun Khade and Joao Sousa knotted 4-4 in the opening set. The Indian, on the other hand, saved a breakpoint in the ninth game and won the first set in a tiebreaker.
The scoreboard followed the same pattern in the second set, with both players holding all of their serves. Sousa, on the other hand, won the second tiebreaker to force the match into a decider.
Sousa broke Khade's service early in the third set and rode the wave to the round of 16.
Ramkumar Ramanathan will be seen partnered with Rohan Bopanna in his doubles encounter against the American duo of Jamie Cerretani and Nicolas Monroe on Wednesday.
The Indian duo seeded second in the competition, won their first trophy of the 2022 season in Adelaide and will be vying for their second victory of the year.
Meanwhile, Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan will compete against Austria's Denis Novak and Portugal's Joao Sousa.
Arjun Khade and Purav Raja will compete against Vishnu Vardhan and Sriram Balaji, both from India.
Vardhan and Balaji replaced Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis and Moldova's Radu Albot in the main draw on Tuesday. Berankis was suffering from an elbow injury following his singles encounter on Monday, and the duo had to withdraw a day before their match.
