Wimbledon 2022 | Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan lose in first round qualifiers, Sania Mirza only Indian in main draw
A file image of Yuki Bhambri.
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India's singles challenge at the Wimbledon ended early on Monday as Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanathan lost their respective first-round qualifying matches in straight sets. The world no. 172 Ramanathan lost to Czech Republic’s Vit Kopriva 7-5, 6-4, while Yuki lost to Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
Bhambri had entered the qualifying round on the basis of injury-protected ranking but was handed a tough first-round draw against qualifying top seed Zapata Miralles. The Spaniard had made it to the fourth round of the French Open, after entering the competition through qualifiers. He had defeated Americans John Isner and Taylor Fritz before losing to Alexander Zverev.
Bhambri, on the other hand, had started out positively in the match, going 5-3 up in the first set. But the 25-year-old from Spain then clawed his way back into the match and took the set 7-5 later on. From there on, it was a cakewalk for him, as he wrapped up the second set 6-1.
Meanwhile, Ramanathan too lost a closely-contested match to 19th seed Kopriva. The Indian even managed to take a 3-1 lead in the second, before going down 6-4. Now, Sania Mirza is the only Indian who is in the fray at the tournament. She is into her last season as a professional and announced her decision to retire after the season ended.
She will be playing in the women's doubles along with Czech Lucie Hradecka. Veteran Rohan Bopanna decided to skip Wimbledon this year due to no points being available at the Grand Slam.
