One hour before the marquee quarter final clash, as Sumit is hitting a few balls on the centre court, I overhear two fans discussing the possible outcome of this match –
Fan 1 – “Ramu maarega aaj” (Ramkumar will win)
Fan 2 – “Lekin form me to Sumit hai”
Such was the uncertainty going into this big clash between two of India’s brightest up and coming players. While Sumit was the one who’s had big results on tour recently, Ram was the one who had the 5-0 head-to-head against Sumit going into the match.
But at the end of it all, it was Ramkumar who grabbed more opportunities that came up, and thus tilted the match in his favor, winning 6-4 7-6(5). He will take on 2nd seeded James Duckworth next, who overcame a spirited performance by our very own Mukund Sasikumar, winning 7-5 4-6 7-5.
When asked about the “It was a good match. But the conditions here are tough for me. Fast courts, lighter balls, so the ball flies. And I’m playing my first hard court tournament in three months, so it was always going to be tough. I had my chances, didn’t take them. But that’s part and parcel of tennis. It was the last tournament of the year, so it’s cool,” said Sumit, when asked about today’s match.
The Indian dominance in the doubles section was evident with top seeds Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan registering a dominant 6-3 6-4 win over Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz and Frenchman Calvin Hemery . In the semifinals the Indian pair will take on fourth seeded Brydan. Klein of Great Britain and N Vijay Sundar Prashanth of India who easily disposed off Indian pair of Niki Poonacha and Anirudh Chandrasekar 6-2 6-3.
The semi-finals will be played 1 PM onwards on Saturday. Entry is free.
Results –
Singles Quarterfinals –
[6] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND) bt [3] Sumit Nagal (IND) 6-4,7-6(5)
[2] James Duckworth(AUS) bt [8] Sasikumar Mukund(IND) 7-5,4-6,7-5
Doubles Quarterfinals –
[1] Purav Raja/Ramkumar Ramanathan(Ind) bt Aziz Dougaz (Tun)/ Calvin Hemery (Fra) 6-3,6-4
[4] Brydan Klein(GBR)/N Vijay Sundar Prashanth(IND) bt Niki Poonacha/Anirudh Chandrasekar 6-2,6-3
