Japan Open is a part of ATP 500 series and is held in Koto, Tokyo. It was first held in 1973. For Indian tennis fans Japan Open has grown interest with Ramkumar Ramanathan qualifying into the singles main draw with 2 good wins including one against Elias Ymer the current WR 124. Ram is already in the doubles draw with Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
Japan Open has not only witnessed Indian participation before but our players have also managed to win the title in both singles and doubles event in the past editions.
Here we look into some popular moments from the open :
Ramesh Krishnan – Singles winner in 1986
1986 was a Golden year for Ramesh Krishnan as he not only reached Wimbledon QF in that year but he also managed to win two ATP titles including Japan Open.
He defeated Johan Carlsson of Sweden 6-3 6-1 in the finals hence becoming the first Indian at that time to win the title.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi – Doubles winners in 2000
The Indian express was on a roll in the 2000 edition. The unseeded pair went onto defeat the 8th seed in Pre QF, 2nd seed in the QF and the 5th seed in the finals. This was also the first time when an Asian team had won the title.
Leander Paes – Doubles runner up in 2008 & 2012
Leander Paes reached the finals twice again after winning the title in 2000. In 2008 he partnered Czech player Lucas Dlouhy but the pair went down to Mischa Zverev and Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. In 2012 Leander was partnering another Czech player Radek Stepanek but again they lost in straight sets to Bruno Soares and Alexander Peya.
Rohan Bopanna – Doubles winner in 2013
In 2013 Rohan became the 4th Indian to lift the Japan Open title. Rohan was teamed up with his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin and the pair was seeded 4th. They defeated Jamie Murray and John Peers 7-6(5) 6-4 in the finals.
Somdev Devvarman – First round in 2011
Former World No 62 Somdev Devvarman also featured in the singles main draw of the 2011 edition but he was not able to get past 7th seed Radek Stepanek in the first round. The winner of this edition was Andy Murray who defeated Rafael Nadal in the finals.
Ramkumar Ramanathan – Both singles and doubles main draw in 2022
India’s No 1 Ramkumar is the latest entry to the elite list. He will be facing fellow qualifier Rio Noguchi of Japan in the first round of singles.
Here’s hoping Ramkumar can build on this momentum and progress in the tournament which holds so much history for the Indians.
