Ramkumar Ramanathan: Local sensation

Local lad Ramkumar Ramanathan will have no dearth of supporters to cheer for him at the Chennai Open.

Name: Ramkumar Ramanathan

Age: 22

Country: India

World Ranking: 227

Record in Chennai Open: 2012: First round Qualifying; 2013: First round Qualifying; 2014: Round of 16; 2015: Round of 32; 2016: Quarterfinals

Form book:

Ramkumar Ramanathan rose to fame in India with an electric performance in the 2014 Chennai Open where he defeated the then longstanding Indian No. 1 Somdev Devvarman to enter the pre-quarters. His aggressive play earned him quite a good following in his home city and he is currently India's second highest ranked player in the world at No. 227.

In his own words, it has not been great year for the Chennai lad. With constant early round losses in the Challenger circuit, he went back to playing more ITF Futures to get back his confidence. He justified his decision by winning two back-to-back ITF Futures titles in Qatar and is looking to rekindle the magic in the same venue that propelled him to stardom among Indian tennnis fans.