The Indian challenge came to an end at the 2016 French Open qualifying with the defeat of the 125th ranked Saketh Myneni in the second round on Wednesday. The 28-year-old fought hard after conceding early breaks but in the end, his challenge was over in two sets with a 6(5)-7, 5-7 loss to the 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe of the USA.
Myneni had suffered a shoulder injury prior to the second Grand Slam of the year which had forced him out of the circuit for more than two weeks. His return proved to be an auspicious one as he posted a fighting 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Korean teenager Duckhee Lee in the first round of qualifying.
Against Tiafoe, it was expected to be a much harder job. The young American, ranked 188th, has been singled out as one of the stars to watch out for and he had lived up to the promise by reaching the final of the Tallahassee Challenger on clay in April.
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He was predictably the one to take an early lead in both the sets. In the opener, the 28th seeded Indian broke back to 2-2 and then clawed his way back to force a tie-break after being 2-5 down.
Despite being ahead 5-2 in the breaker, Saketh buckled under pressure and Tiafoe needed no second chance to grab the first set 7-6(5).
The Indian, who won the Nanjing Challenger doubles title last month, showed the same fighting skills to come back from 1-4 down and level the second set to 5-5.
But he faltered once more to gift a crucial break and with it, the match to the American, who now goes on to face the 204th ranked Romanian Adrian Ungur.
Ramkumar had lost on Monday
Earlier in the first round on Monday, 21-year-old Ramkumar Ramanathan had bowed out with a 3-6, 3-6 defeat to lower-ranked Matthew Barton of Australia.
