Houdini act: Ramkumar discovered his rhythm within the nick of time towards Janvier.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
Ramkumar Ramanathan fought back from the brink, from a set and three match factors down, to beat France’s Maxime Janvier 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 and enter the second spherical of the dafaNews Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger, right here on Monday.
The wild card entrant’s keep within the singles draw on the Garden City appeared set to finish the identical way because it had final week in Chennai — with a first-round defeat.
But the 29-year-old clawed his way back miraculously for under his first major draw match win since November 2022.
On the day, fortunes swung back and forth within the opening set as Ramkumar and Janvier couldn’t calibrate their video games to match the pomp of the immaculately laid KSLTA courts contained in the leafy and pristine Cubbon Park.
The duo traded breaks early on and the competition inevitably slipped right into a tie break.
Once there, Ramkumar made the primary transfer, going up 4-1. But Janvier reeled off six straight factors to pocket the set.
In the second stanza, the 2 saved tempo with one another till one unhealthy service sport at 4-5 noticed Ramkumar staring down the barrel. However, he saved all three, levelled at 5-5 and broke to go 6-5 up.
That final return sport confirmed his heightened confidence, particularly the fierce slapped return to carry up the break level.
Ramkumar carried that perception, first to maintain serve to take the match into the decider after which break Janvier’s serve within the third sport of the third set.
From there on, there was no trying back for the Indian.
Australian Bernard Tomic entered the principle draw after defeating Jonas Forejtek of Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 within the ultimate qualifying spherical.
The outcomes (first spherical): Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Maxime Janvier (Fra) 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4; Moez Echargui (Tun) bt Duje Ajdukovic (Cro) 6-2, 6-4; Gauthier Onclin (Bel) bt Giovanni Fonio (Ita) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5).
