YOUNGSTER Ramkumar Ramanthan fought his heart out before losing a tight second round singles match while Purav Raja and Divij Sharan bowed out in the men’s doubles first round of the Wimbledon qualifiers last week.
Up against German 21st seed and world number 130, the
21-year-old Indian lost 6-7(5) 6-7(3),bringing the curtains down on India’s challenge in the singles qualifying event.
Saketh Myneni, the country’s top singles player at number 150, had lost his first round to
23-year-old Frenchman Tristan Lama- sine 6-4 6-7 (2) 1-6.In the men’s doubles qualifiers, the
fourth-seed- ed Indian combo of Raja and Sharan lost 7-6(5) 4-6 6-8to the German team of Dustin Brown and Jan- Lennard Struff.
Rajan and Sharan had a good
build-upto the Wimbledon as they won two Challenger titles - in Manchester and Surbiton.
Yuki Bhambri is not competing as he is nursing an elbow injury. Yuki, Myneni and Ramanathan now have Davis Cup assignment next as India host Korea next month.
