Ultratech Cement ITF Kalaburagi Open: Ramkumar remains the only Indian in the semi-finals

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In the final four men’s singles lineups at the Ultratech Cement ITF Kalaburagi Open, Ramkumar Ramanathan was the only remaining Indian. The fifth seed overcame the formidable Manish Sureshkumar 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals held at the Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium in Kalaburagi on Friday to advance to the semifinals.

In the remaining quarterfinal matches of the day, sixth seed Rishab Agarwal lost to second seed Matsuda Ryuki of Japan 0-6, 4-6, and seventh seed Aryan Shah was defeated by Japanese player Ryotaro Taguchi 3-6, 2-6. In the final quarterfinal round, seventh seed David Pichler of Austria defeated Japanese Seita Watanabe 6-0, 6-0 in a one-sided match.

Shortly afterwards, Matsuda and Taguchi advanced to the doubles finals by defeating Bharath Nishok Kumaran and Rishab Agarwal, two Indian players, 7-6 (4), 6-2. They will compete against David Pichler and Nitin Kumar Sinha, an Austrian-Indian team that defeated Adil Kalyanpur and Sidharth Rawat, in the championship match. 6-2, 6-3

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At least in the opening set, Ramkumar, who has just won two ITF 25K titles in as many months, had a capable opponent in his Chennai citymate. Until Manish broke Ramakumar’s serve in the seventh game, the two players held their respective serves, putting them ahead 5-3. Manish suddenly lost his form and made three careless mistakes, allowing his senior opponent to not only return to the game but also to play to his full potential. Since then, Ramkumar has defeated Manish by winning ten straight games, including six in the second set. Ramkuamar’s massive serve and powerful forehand were the standout aspects of his game, further undermining Manish’s slim prospects of a comeback.

When Aryan Shah matched his Japanese opponent shot for shot, he had a great deal of promise. Aryan broke his opponent’s serve in the very next game after losing it in the fourth. But in the sixth game, he was broken again, and Taguchi took advantage of Aryan’s mistakes to win the opening set 6-3. If they kept up this pace, the Japanese would win the first game and the seventh game as well as an early break before serving out for the match.

Results 

Men’s Singles (Quarterfinals)

7-David Pichler (AUT) bt Seita Watanabe (JPN) 6-0, 6-0; 5-Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Manish Sureshkumar (IND) 7-5,6-0; Ryotaro Taguchi (JPN) bt Q-Aryan Shah (IND) 6-3, 6-2; 2-Matsuda Ryuki (JPN) bt 6-Rishab Agarwal (IND) 6-0, 6-4.

Semifinal line-up:

5-Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) Vs. Ryotaro Taguchi (JPN); 7-David Pichler (AUT) Vs. 2-Matsuda Ryuki (JPN)  

Doubles (Semifinals)

Ryuki Matsuda (JPN)/Ryotaro Taguchi (JPN) bt Rishab Agarwal (IND)/Bharath Nishok Kumaran (IND) 7-6 (4), 6-2; 2-David Pichler (AUT)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) bt Adil Kalyanpur (IND)/Sidharth Rawat (IND) 6-3, 6-2.

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