Ramkumar Ramanathan put up a spirited fight before losing 5-7, 7-5, 4-6 to South Korea’s Seongchan Hong in the singles quarterfinal of the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger at the KSLTA courts inside Cubbon Park here on Friday.
Capricious for most part, the match saw some quality tennis, with both players attacking with aplomb. But it was also marked by Ramkumar’s repeated run-ins with the chair umpire in the third set, because of which he seemingly lost focus and withered away.
Hong broke Ramkumar’s serve in the first game of the contest, but the Indian evened matters in the 10th. The crosscourt forehand winner Ramkumar hit on break-point with very little room to work with was indicative of his aggressive mood.
But he got a tad overambitious and that cost him as he lost serve to love in the 11th game and ceded the set soon after.
With his tail up, Hong made the play in the ninth game of the second stanza, but Ramkumar sliced and diced his way out of trouble and saved all four break-points. But when Hong served at 5-6, Ramkumar converted the first break opportunity to level the tie.
However, at 30-all in the first game of the third set, Ramkumar lost his cool over a line call that went against him. On the subsequent break-point, he double-faulted. From then on, he remonstrated to no end and even when he earned a break-point in the sixth game, the match never seemed his.
Later in the evening, India No.1 Sumit Nagal brought back the cheer on the supporters’ faces with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Australia’s Adam Walton to move into the last four.
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