Indian challenge in Wimbledon singles qualifiers over

London, June 23 (IANS) The Indian challenge in the singles qualifying event of the Wimbledon tennis tournament was over after Ramkumar Ramanthan lost 6-7(5) 6-7(3) to Germany's Daniel Brands in the opening round here.

In the men's doubles, Purav Raja and Divij Sharan bowed out after failing to win the first round on Wednesay.

The fourth-seeded Indian combo of Raja and Sharan lost 7-6(5) 4-6 6-8 to the German team of Dustin Brown and Jan-Lennard Struff. Rajan and left-handed Sharan had a good build-up to the Wimbledon as they won two Challenger titles -- in Manchester and Surbiton.

Saketh Myneni, the country's top singles player at number 150, had earlier lost his first round to 23-year-old Frenchman Tristan Lamasine 6-4 6-7 (2) 1-6.

With Yuki Bhambri not competing because of an elbow injury, the doors are now closed for an Indian to play in the singles category.

In July, Yuki, Myneni and Ramanathan will be seen in the upcoming Davis Cup tournament against Korea in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie in Chandigarh on grass courts.

--IANS

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