It’s already time for the season’s second Grand Slam – the 2016 French Open – which kicks off on Monday with the qualifying rounds. The clay presents an absolutely different challenge with the red dirt testing the patience and stamina of every player.
The men’s qualifying draw has already been released and the women’s is to follow a day later.
Ramkumar can face Stepanek in second round
In the men’s section, two Indians will hope to be among the 16 players who will get a chance to play in the main draw. The 141st ranked Saketh Myneni and the 240th ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan are the players representing India and are on opposite sides of the draw.
Myneni is up against Korea’s World No. 228 Duckhee Lee whereas Ramkumar starts against Australia’s 257th ranked Matthew Barton. Both the matches are scheduled on Monday.
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If the 21-year-old Ramanathan manages to cross the first hurdle, he has a tough task up next as he is likely to face the 20th seeded Radek Stepanek. The veteran Czech, who was once ranked as high as No. 8, recently qualified for the Madrid Masters and even took a set off the eventual runner-up Andy Murray in the first round.
Saketh, meanwhile, has got a seeding of 28th and can come up against the rising 18-year-old American Frances Tiafoe in Round 2. The youngster recently reached the final of the Tallahassee Challenger on clay, losing the summit clash in three sets to fellow teenager Quentin Halys.
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The draw is surely not a hassle-free one for the Indians but Ramanathan has been very impressive heading to Paris. Early this month, he had double delight in Spain as he scooped up both the singles and the doubles titles at a $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tournament. He followed it up with a semi-final finish at the $50,000 Samarkhand Challenger.
Myneni, on the other hand, had been recuperating from a shoulder injury which forced him to retire during the semi-finals of the An-Ning Challenger end of April. The Indian was on a high after winning the Nanjing Challenger doubles title but his shoulder trouble and its consequent layoff may have contributed to some rustiness.
