Ramkumar races into last 8

CHENNAI: Continuing his dream run, local boy Ramkumar Ramanathan stormed into the quarterfinals of the ATP Chennai Open tournament here on Thursday. The 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 result over Russian ‘lucky loser’ Alexander Kudryavtsev helped Ramkumar become only the fourth Indian to reach the last eight stage in the 21-year history of the tournament, emulating the likes of Leander Paes (1998), Somdev Devvarman (2009) and Yuki Bhambri (2014).

Kudryavtsev’s lethargic forehand hit the mesh as Ramkumar, one of the three wild card entrants, pumped his fist in a fierce celebration. As he started realising the significance of the victory, he couldn’t control his tears during the on-court interview. Ramkumar will play last year’s runner-up Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain for a place in the semifinals. Earlier, No.3 seed Benoit Paire booked a spot in the quarterfinals after a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 victory over Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol. It was a battle of nerves for Paire, one of the volatile characters on the Tour. The Frenchman had an argument with the chair umpire over a HawkEye challenge and saw his game slumping before prevailing in the 90-minute contest.

From the word go, Paire attacked Rosol with his stinging backhand and raced to a 2-0 lead, but the set was back on serve at 4-4, a game after Paire threw an on-court tantrum.
Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller rifled in a match total of 14 aces, but it wasn’t enough for him to beat qualifier Fabbiano on the outside court. Muller, the sixth seed, lost 4-6, 5-7 in just over an hour.

Meanwhile, Leander Paes’ campaign in the doubles came to a premature end as his Spanish partner Marcel Granollers was down with an illness. The pair announced their pull-out ahead of their quarterfinal against Austin Krajicek and Paire. “It’s disappointing not to be able to play in front of my home crowd. I fell for Marcel and wish him a speedy recovery ahead of the Australian Open,” said Paes.