Ramkumar Ramanathan’s aspirations of getting into a Grand Slam were put on hold as he was beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Ze Zhang of China in the pre-quarterfinals of the Asia-Oceania Australian Open wild card playoff tennis tournament in Zhuhai, China, on Thursday.
Ze Zhang, who was ranked 148 in 2013, had beaten Ramkumar by the same margin in the Bangkok Challenger in 2015.
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After being handed a bye, Ramkumar also lost the doubles quarterfinals in partnership with Arjun Kadhe — 11-13 in the super tie-break — against the Japanese duo of Yuki Mochizuki and Sho Shimabukuro.
"Ram did come out with the best. But, Zhang was unstoppable. He was hitting winner after winner’’, observed coach T. Chandrasekaran, who had accompanied Ramkumar to China.
The Indian challenge will now be shouldered solely by Sasi Kumar Mukund, who will play Yunseong Chung of South Korea in the quarterfinals on Friday.
- Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Ze Zhang (Chn) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 6-0.
- Doubles (quarterfinals): Yuki Mochizuki & Sho Shimabukuro (Jpn) bt
- Arjun Kadhe & Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 3-6, [13-11].
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