Indian tennis round-up: Yuki Bhambri crashes out with injury in Queen’s, Ramkumar Ramanathan suffers first round exit
Indian tennis ace Yuki Bhambri was forced to retire after sustaining a knee injury during his first round match against Milos Raonic at Queen's Club Championships on Tuesday.
Bhambri had earlier qualified for the main draw after upsetting Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 in the final round of qualifying on Sunday. However, against Raonic, he never really seemed comfortable. The Canadian, on the other hand, was in sublime form right from the start.
In the first set itself, Bhambri was broken twice as Raonic went on to win 6-1. The 25-year-old Indian, who has been in a giant-killing run of late, had to save three break points in his first service game before he could hold. However, thereon, he appeared to be struggling as Raonic wrapped up the first set quickly.
Bhambri was broken yet again in the opening game of the second set. He was able to hold his serve the next time but eventually, he decided to retire after Raonic had surged ahead to a 3-1 lead.
With the second Grand Slam of the year starting in two weeks time, it will be interesting to see if Bhambri manages to regain his fitness before that and take to the grass court at Wimbledon.
Ramkumar Ramanathan exits in first round
Ramkumar Ramanathan lost to Austria’s Sebastian Ofner in the first round 5-7, 3-6 in under 64 minutes as his disappointing run continued in the Ilkley Challenger. Before this, he had crashed out in the quarter-final of Nottingham Challenger. when he lost to Spain's Marcel Granollers 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.
The 125th ranked Indian could convert only one of the three break points he got while Ofner, ranked 20 places below, broke his rival four times.
Saketh Myneni sizzles in Uzbekistan
In Uzbekistan, Saketh Myneni thrashed Dzmitry Zhyrmont of Belarus in straight sets (6-4, 6-0) at Fergana Challenger. Both players got off to solid starts but it was Myneni who went on to bag the first set and then, the second.
However, while the first set was a close encounter, the second set was utter domination by the Indian. Myneni broke Zhyrmont thrice to take the match. The World No. 447 will take on World No 236 Roberto Cid in the quarterfinal on Thursday.
Karman Kaur Thandi progresses in Hong Kong
Second seed Karman Kaur Thandi progressed to the pre-quarterfinals with ease on Tuesday as she saw off local favourite Wu Ho-ching 6-4, 6-2 at the ITF USD 25K tournament in Hong Kong. She will face YeXin Ma in the next round on Wednesday.