Sports News | Bengaluru Open 2024: Ramkumar Kicks off Indian Challenge on Winning Note

Bengaluru (Karnataka)[India], February 13 (ANI): Wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan fought back from a set down to pack off Frenchman Maxime Janvier 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Bengaluru Open 2024 being played at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium on Monday.

The 29-year-old Indian kept his nerves despite his serve being put under pressure in the opening two sets by his higher-ranked opponent to pull off a sensational victory in two hours and 26 minutes to give the home crowd a lot to cheer.

Also Read | Afghanistan Squad for T20Is Against Sri Lanka Announced: Ibrahim Zadran to Lead in Absence of Rashid Khan.

Also biting the dust on the opening day of the main draw was Croatian third seed Duje Ajdukovic, who went down against Tunisia's Moez Echargui 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 30 minutes.

But the main attraction of the opening day was clearly the show-off between Ramkumar and Janvier and the former rode on home support to make a winning start to his campaign.

Also Read | WPL 2024: Four Overseas Cricketers Including Chamari Athapaththu and Danni Wyatt Who Will Feature in the Women’s Premier League For the First Time.

The opening set was a neck-and-neck battle with Janvier relying on his first serve percentage to put pressure on the Indian and pocketed the first set through a tiebreaker.

Ramkumar was again under pressure in the second set and managed to save four break points and then broke Janvier in the 11th game before wrapping the set in the next to force a decider.

With the momentum in his favour, the Indian then broke Janvier early in the third set and then held on to his service games to wrap up the match.

He will now face the winner of the match between top seed Luca Nardi of Italy and Lucky Loser Dan Added of France.s

The Bengaluru Open is being organised by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA). The ATP Challenger event began on January 12 and will conclude on January 19.

Results

Main draw: Ramkumar Ramanathan (India) beat Maxime Janvier (Fra) 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4; Moez Echargui (Tunisia) beat 3-Duje Ajdukovic (Croatia) 6-2, 6-4; Gauthier Onclin (Belgium) beat Giovanni Fonio (Italy) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5)

Qualifying:1-Bernand Tomic beat Jonas Forejtek 6-4, 6-2; 3-Chun-Hsin Tseng beat Yun Seong Chung 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; 4-S Vincent Ruggeri bt K Van Wyk 6-0, 6-2. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)