Bengaluru: Indian Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan made a remarkable comeback to shock top seeded Luka Nardi to enter the singles quarterfinals of the Bengaluru Open here on Wednesday. Ramkumar, a wildcard entrant, prevailed over the Italian 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in little over two hours in their pre-quarterfinal match at the KSLTA Stadium.
The match began on an ominous note for the Indian star as Nardi broke his serve in the very first game of the opening set. From that point onwards, Ramkumar was not able to offer any kind of fight to his higher-ranked opponent, who used a heavy first serve and precise ground shots to choke his opponent.
While Nardi landed a whopping 86 percent of his first serve inside the box, Ramanathan barely managed to cross the 50 percent mark. But Ramkumar seemed a totally transformed player in the second set as he engaged Nardi more effectively in rallies, exploring the deeper areas of the court to keep the Italian pinned on the baseline.
After the first four games went by the serve, Ramkumar earned a crucial break in the fifth game to go 3-2 up and he consolidated the position with a hold to make it 4-2. The salient feature of Ramkumar's transformed game was the improvement in his first and second services, as he found more zip in them in. Nardi struggled to return Ramkumar's serves that often breached the 200 kmph barrier.
It was evident in the 10th game when Ramkumar served out the second set, as two big serves down the T helped the Indian go level at a set apiece. Frustration gradually seemed to have crept into Nardi's game as he began to make unforced errors regularly. After matching Ramkumar till the fourth game, Nardi crumbled against sustained pressure in the fifth game. Trailing 30-40, Nardi slammed an overhead smash well over the baseline to hand Ramkumar a vital break as he went up 3-2.
Ramkumar firmed up his position with a hold in the sixth game and he had the simple job of retaining his serve in the 10th game to pocket the match. He began it with a thundering ace down the middle, his ninth of the match, and moments later a lovely forehand approach volley positioned him at 40-0. Ramkumar kept Nardi in the baseline with a deep forehand and the latter smashed a forehand wide of the sideline as the Indian let out a loud roar.
However, it was curtains for fourth seeded Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi who lost 3-6, 4-6 to Maks Kasnikowski of Poland.
Results (Singles): Ramkumar Ramanathan beat 1-Luka Nardi 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, Roca Batalla beat Tristan Boyer 7-5, 6-3, Maks Kasnikowski beat 4-Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-4.
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