Tata Open Maharashtra: Ramkumar Ramanathan cruises to main draw under calming presence of Purav Raja

“In the space!” “Go for it!” “Make a soup!” – exclamations spilled from the audience as Ramkumar Ramanathan played in front of an almost-packed side court at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Sunday. The crowd cheered each point he made and sighed at his missed opportunities. Yet, it was fellow tennis player Purav Raja who stood out and seemed to have a calming influence with his advices as Ramkumar cruised to a 6-3 7-5 win against third-seed Italian Mattia Bellucci to progress to the main draw at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune.

Raja and Ramanathan go a long way back. They have played doubles together and have won three titles in the last three years. The pair also featured in the 2020 Tata Open, where they have finished as semi-finalists.

Unlike his opener in the qualifiers on Saturday, the 28-year-old Indian, who came as a wildcard, comfortably wrapped up the opening set 6-3. He broke early to go 3-1 up after converting on his second break-point opportunity in the game before holding serve to love to close out the set.

Bellucci made an improved comeback in the second set, where he denied any break-point opportunity to Ramkumar before threatening to take a lead on his opponent’s serve. But a resilient Ramkumar, with Raja in his corner, who reminded him that “the crowd is behind you”, saved six set points to hold serve.

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“He started getting better through the course of the match, especially in the second sets where he was making a lot more returns. There were some close games as well. I had the chance to break him and I kept going for it. And when it came to 4-5, there was a long point at 15-40, I think that turned it where I could keep the point and come up with a first serve and a break point. I just kept my momentum and kept calm. The crowd really helped. They were in my favour. It got to him a little bit and he was complaining a lot, which also helped me. I felt it was annoying him that I was serving a lot of first serves and tough volleys,” Ramkumar later explained that game in the post-match press conference.

The 21-year-old failed to recover as Ramkumar broke his serve to go 6-5 up and eventually closed the match to progress to the main draw, joining the likes of India No. 1 Mukund Sasikumar, Sumit Nagal and the 15-year-old Manas Dhamne.

“I played well today. Honestly, it was a tough match against an upcoming player so I was looking forward to this match. I wanted to play short points. I started off really well and took chances in the return games,” Ramkumar added.

Ramkumar will next face 62-ranked Pedro Martínez from Spain on Tuesday. The Indian will probably hope for Raja’s calming presence, once again, to be there on court side. The 37-year-old veteran star was absent on Saturday when Ramkumar was down a set, struggling against 175-ranked Otto Virtanen in his first-round qualifying match. He later walked in from the Player's Zone and stood in front of Court 1, where youngster was battling it out. He uttered a few words to motivate him and kept cheering him on, even as he conceded points. Ramkumar eventually won the next two sets.

“He has always been there for me. Yesterday, he was there in bits and pieces and today he was there for most of the match. It’s always a good vibe. I respect him as a player and he is a very good friend of mine. I don't think twice when he says something. He kept telling me to stay aggressive and keep going for it. He just came there for the match like any other day. There is nothing. It’s coming from his heart. He has been there for me during the tough times as well,” the 348th ranked Indian later explained.

When further asked about the “Make a soup” comment from Raja after Ramkumar broke serve in the second set, the 28-year-old laughed saying, “I did not hear...did he say that?”

Meanwhile, in another qualifying match, Yuki Bhambri’s campaign in singles draw was cut short after he suffered a 1-6, 4-6 loss against the last edition’s semi-finalist Elias Ymer.

Maximilian Marterer and Flavio Cobolli were the other two players to progress into the main event. While Marterer beat Nikola Milojevic 6-2, 6-3, Cobolli got the better of Zdenek Kolar by 6-4, 6-4.

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