Qualifier Ramkumar Ramanathan’s brilliant run at the Antalya Open came to an end at the hands of the World No. 79 and former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The 222nd ranked Indian put up a gutsy display on the grass surface, saving as many as five match points but in the end it was not to be as the experienced Cypriot edged him in the third set tie-break for a 6(0)-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) win in 2 hours 43 minutes.
The 22-year-old was playing in a quarter-final at the ATP-level for only the second time in his career having reached the last-eight at the Chennai Open in 2016.
The youngster hammered 10 aces but the good work was undone by 11 double faults and a paltry 42% first serve. His poor break point conversion rate of just 25% (1/4) did not help his cause much.
The first set proved to be very competitive and even after the two traded a solitary break of serve. The opener headed to a tie-break where the Indian held his nerves well and played some flawless tennis to grab all the points on offer.
Baghdatis turned up the heat in the second set and made in-roads into Ramkumar’s serves twice to level the match.
Ramkumar saves five match points in third set
The decider once more was a hard-fought affair and Ramkumar managed to hold off Baghdatis for a long time. He saved all the three break points he faced and sent the set to a decisive tie-break.
It was the veteran former World No. 8 who cruised to a 6-1 lead in the blink of an eye. The resilient Ramkumar was not yet done and saved five match points on the trot to put the breaker back on level terms at 6-6.
It was, however, Baghdatis, who took the next two points to dash all hopes of his young opponent.
The Indian had caught the attention of the tennis world two days ago when he sent the top seed and World No. 8 Dominic Thiem packing from the tournament in the second round with a shocking scoreline of 6-3, 6-2. Considering that Ramkumar was playing at a grass event for the first time since last July, it was a commendable feat indeed.
