Ramkumar beats Dudi Sela, faces Soeda in semis

India's Ramkumar Ramanathan set up a semifinal clash against Go Soeda after defeating third seed Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinal of the Challenger in Taipei.

In a match that lasted just over an hour, Ramkumar Ramanathan fired seven aces, and converted four of seven breakpoints to defeat Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2. (File photo)

Ramkumar Ramanathan, who played a significant role in helping India beat China in the recent Davis Cup in Tianjin, sustained his good form and knocked out third seed and former world No. 29 Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the $150,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Taipei on Friday. In a match that lasted just over an hour, the 23-year-old Ramkumar fired seven aces, and converted four of seven breakpoints that he forced. Even though he dropped serve once, Ramkumar had a high percentage of success on his serve and conceded only 10 points in all in the whole match.

READ: Junior Davis Cup: India loses to China

In the quarterfinals, sixth seed Ramkumar will play seventh seed Go Soeda of Japan. Fourth seed Yuki Bhambri defeated qualifier Chen-Hsun Lo of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-2 to set up a semifinal against eighth seed Tatsuma Ito of Japan. In the ITF women’s doubles final in Kazakhstan, Pranjala Yadlapalli and Kyra Shroff were beaten 10-5 in the super tie-break by the Russian fourth seeds, Daria Kruzhkova and Valeriya Pogrebnyak. Rutuja Bhosale lost the singles quarterfinals in two tie-breaks to fourth seed Julia Terziyska of Bulgaria in Egypt.

The results: $150,000 Challenger men, Chinese Taipei Singles (quarterfinals): Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Dudi Sela (Isr) 6-4, 6-2; Yuki Bhambri bt Chien-Hsun Lo (Tpe) 6-4, 6-2. $15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Singles (quarterfinals): Julia Terziyska (Bul) bt Rutuja Bhosale 7-6(4), 7-6(5). $15,000 ITF women, Shymkent, Kazakhstan Doubles (final): Daria Kruzhkova & Valeriya Pogrebnyak (Rus) bt Kyra Shroff & Pranjala Yadlapalli 6-3, 5-7, [10-5].